Photos

  • Северный Зеленчукский храм. Photo 1
  • Северный Зеленчукский храм. Photo 2
  • Северный Зеленчукский храм. Photo 3
  • Северный Зеленчукский храм. Photo 4

Description

The Northern Zelenchuk Temple is an ancient Christian building of the 11th century, which is located on the territory of the Nizhne-Arkhyz settlement in the valley of the Bolshoy Zelenchuk River in the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia.

This temple is one of three surviving cross-domed churches of the 10th-11th centuries located on the territory of the Nizhne-Arkhyz settlement. The construction of the Northern Temple probably took place at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th centuries and, perhaps, it was the main temple of a large monastic monastery. An important role in the life of the temple was played by its proximity to monastic institutions and distance from the city center, which gave it an isolated and prayerful character.

The temple has a nine-part structure with an adjacent three-part vima and three semicircular apses. From the outside, it is almost devoid of decoration, with the exception of a jagged cornice made of plinth. Inside the temple, wall benches, a two-stage solea and a three-stage sintron in the central apse have been preserved.

The temple was plastered and painted, but the frescoes were almost completely lost. Some traces of fresco painting were discovered in the 1960s, but they have not survived to this day.

The role of the Northern Temple in the life of the city and region is emphasized by its historical significance as a place of ecclesiastical and secular power, as well as the burial place of the highest spiritual and secular figures of that time.

The exact date of construction of the temple is unknown, but its architectural features and style indicate that it belongs to the early periods of ancient Russian art.

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