SAINT SOPHIA

CATHEDRAL,
KIEV
Byzantine Architecture style

Group Members :-
1. Saurabh Kumar Singh 2. Rachit Agrawal 2/1/20XX 1
3. Mohd Shakib 4. Shivam Gaharwal
Saint Sophia Cathedral

Country:- Ukraine, Europe

Capital city:- Kiev

Length of cathedral:- 29.5 m (97 ft)

– Length w/galleries:- 41.7 m (137 ft)

Width of cathedral:- 29.3 m (96 ft)

– Width w/galleries:- 54.6 m (179 ft)

Height of main dome:- 28.6 m (94 ft)

Styles:- Byzantine architecture,

Ukrainian Baroque

Year built :- 11th century

Recognition:- Seven Wonders of Ukraine

Presentation Title 2
 Introduction

S t . S o fi a C a t h e d ral w a s fo u n d e d i n T h e n a m e o f t h e
c a t h ed ral c o m es fro m G re e k w o rd "s o fia", w h i c h m e a n s
" w i sd om". T h e fi r s t R u s s ian l i b ra ry, fo u n d e d by Ya rosla v
M u d r y w a s i n t h i s C a t h e d ral.

T h e c a t h ed ral i s fa m o u s fo r i t s m o s a ics a n d fre s cos by

B y za n tin e m a s t e rs. T h e c e n t ral p a r t o f t h e c a t h ed ral i s
d e c ora ted w i t h l a rge m o s a ic. T h e m o s a ic i s 6 m e t e r s h i gh
a n d c o n sists o f s t o ne a n d gl a s s p l a te s o f d i ffe ren t c o lor s.
N o t es a n d i m a ge s o n t h e w a l ls k n own a s S o p hia gra ffi t i,
a re o f gre a t h i s torical v a l ue .

Presentation Title 3
The building of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev

❖ According to chronicles the foundation of the Sofia Cathedral was laid in 1017 or 1037. St. Sophia Cathedral, the central structure of
Yaroslav's town, was surrounded by brick churches, boyars' castles, and dwellings of the townsmen.

❖ The grounds of the city were guarded by a brick wall. In our days, the only relics of the 11th century that have survived are the St.
Sophia Cathedral and the ruins of the Golden Gates - the main entrance into ancient Kiev.

❖ As early as the 11th century, St. Sophia Cathedral was appraised as an outstanding masterprice of art.

❖ With its age-long past, the Saint Sophia Cathedral has survived enemy raids, looting, partial destruction, repairs and reconstruction.

❖ During the taking of the town by the hordes of Batu Khan in 1240, one of the gravest periods in the history of Old Rus, most of the city
was ruined. But the Sofia Cathedral remained standing.

❖ In 1416, Kiev was looted and burned by Editha Khan and in 1482 by Menglis-Ghirei.

❖ The 17th and 18th centuries witnessed intensive construction, using stone and brick.

❖ The wooden buildings of the St. Sophia Monastery were destroyed by a great fire in
1697. Two years later, however, restoration of the cathedral was begun and new brick
structures built around St. Sofia Cathedral by order of Peter the Great.

Presentation Title 4
St. Sophia Plan
T h e e x t ra o rd inary ca t h e d ra l is
s u rro u n de d a n u m b e r o f m o n a stic
b u ild ing s d e p ict in g B a ro q u e s t y le
a rch it e ct ure a n d a rt .
Perspective
Drawing
Perspective geometry of Kiev’s St. Sophia Cathedral, built 11 cent.

Presentation Title 2/1/20XX 6

 Plan of St. Sophia Cathedral museum grounds

KEY TO PLAN:
1. St. Sophia Cathedral
2. The Belfry
3. Metropolitan's residence
4. Refectory
5. Cells of the Cathedral
Elders
6. Seminary
7. Consistory
8. South entrance tower
9. Zaborovsky Gate
10. Monks'cells
11. Memorial stone in honour
of the St. Sophia library (11th
cent.)
12. Ticket office
13. Souvenir kiosk
Architectural monuments
Other buildings
Order of guided tour

Plan of St. Sophia Cathedral

museum grounds in Kiev,
Ukraine

Presentation Title 2/1/20XX 7

 Plan & Section of Kiev, Sophia Cathedral, 11th c.

Presentation Title 8
Section of
Sophia
Cathedral,11th c.
Subtitle
Planning

❖ The original building, most of which remains at the core

of the existing cathedral, is a cross-in-square plan with
twelve cruciform piers marking five east–west naves
intersected by five transverse aisles. Each nave springs
from an apse in the east.

❖ The central nave and the main transverse aisle (transept)

are barrel-vaulted and twice the width and height of the
side naves.

❖ A balcony tops the north and south naves and narthex.

Over the balcony, aisles, and naves rises a pyramidal
arrangement of 12 smaller, peripheral domes and 1 large,
central dome, all 13 of them hemispherical on tall drums.

❖ An open ambulatory girdles the north, south, and west

sides, and to it a further ambulatory and exonarthex with
two staircase towers were added in the late 11th century.
Planning and Construction
❖ The art and architecture of the Saint Sophia Cathedral
have had a wide influence.

❖ The original building's cross-in-square plan, its tall,

pyramidal, domed spaces and silhouette, and its
organization and stylistic treatment
of mosaics and frescoes provided the model for
many Kyivan Rus’ and later Ukrainian churches. It
influenced many more, such as Saint Volodymyr's
Cathedral in Kyiv (1862–82). Its clearly ordered
organization, structural logic, and use of materials
informed the development of the more rational and
constructivist attitudes of almost all subsequent Ukrainian
architecture.

❖ The first library in Ukraine was founded there by Yaroslav

the Wise.

❖ The greatest Byzantine cathedral in Europe of its period.

260 m ² of mosaics and 3000 m ² of original XI century
frescoes preserved.
❖ The centripetal plan, internal volumes, and external massing
reflect the hierarchical ordering of
the mosaics and frescoes inside.

❖ The cathedral's 11th-century exterior walls are of opus

mixtum, a widely used technique of alternating courses of brick
and stone. Exterior ornamentation of the original walls consists
of decorative brickwork, the monochromatic painting of key
architectural elements, and a number of frescoes.

❖ As the surfaces of the walls advance from the floor and the
narthex, the frescoes increase in size and religious significance
and culminate in the monumental mosaics Mother of
God (Orante) in the central apse and Christ Pantocrator in the
central dome. Among the most masterful mosaics are those of
the Church Fathers. The more archaic Orante in the central
apse, often referred to as the Indestructible Wall, is the most
famous.
 Golden Gate
Golden Gate was constructed in and were as a main
entrance to Kiev. The name of the Gate in Kiev
reminds of famous entrance to Constanti n ople : Kiev
prince Yaroslav Mudry wanted to underline that his
country was as powerful as Byzantin e Empire.

Kievers called Golden Gate "the sky gate", as every

morning the sun passed through it and rose. The
citizens of Kiev believed that sun and Golden Gate
saved the city from darkness and death.

Presentation Title
Chart Bell Tower At The Saint Sophia Cathedral In Kiev, Ukraine

❑ The bell tower of Saint Sophia’s Cathedral in Kyiv is an

architectural monument built in the style of the Ukrainian
Baroque.

❑ It is one of the symbols of Kyiv and Ukraine.

❑ This building was constructed on the means of Hetman Ivan

Mazepa in 1699-1706.

❑ The component part of the National Reserve “Sophia of

Kyiv”, the bell tower with a height of 76 meters is the vertical
dominant of the Old Kyiv. Photos by: Alexey Novik.

Presentation Title 14
 MOSAICS

Mosaics decorate the chancel

and the central cupola. ❑ These images represent the main
personages in the Christian religion
and are arranged strictly according
to "religious hierarchy" and
correspond to the hierarchy of feudal
society.

❑ All the mosaics that survive are

genuine relics of the 11th century.
However, some mosaics having
missing parts were filled in with oil
painting in the 19th century.

❑ At the top of the central cupola, and

set in a medallion with a diameter of
4.1 metres, there Is a monumental
half-length figure of Christ

Central cupola. Diagram showing mosaics arrangement: Chancel. Diagram showing mosaics arrangement: Pantocrator wearing a purple robe
and a blue mantle.
Presentation Title 15
Ornamentations
❑ All the mosaics in the cathedral are depicted against glittering gold
backgrounds.

❑ They are remarkable for their richness, vivid colouring and pure tones.

❑ The predominant colours in the wide range of prismatic mosaics are dark blue
and off-white combined with crimson.

❑ Each colour is represented by a great many tints and shades: 21 are blue, 34
are green, 19 are a rose -red, 25 are various tints of gold, and so on. This
testifies to the high development of glass -making in Old Rus and of
techniques in preparing tesserae.

❑ In all, the colour palette of the mosaics comprises 177 different hues or
tints. The tesserae were made of glass, coloured with the aid of salts and
oxidized metal additives. The picture or mosaic image was applied directly
upon the wall by embedding the tesserae in wet plaster. On an average, the
cubes were about one cubic centimetre in size.

❑ Besides the glass tesserae, cubes of natural stone were also used.

❑ Each mosaic composition was surrounded by inscriptions in Greek to explain

the subject. The names of the mosaic artisans are unknown. However, by
studying the artistic feature of executing the separate images and the
methods of applying the tesserae, we can determine a probable group of
artisans numbering eight, not counting their apprentices.

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 FRESCOS
Rescos , in early times, covered all the lateral walls of the building, as
well as those in the lofts and towers. When repairs were made in the
1 7 t h c e n t u r y, t h e o r i g i n a l p a i n t i n g s w e r e p a r t l y r e n o v a t e d w i t h s i z e
c o l o u r s . A t t h e t u r n o f t h e 1 8 t h c e n t u r y, t h e a n c i e n t f r e s c o s , d a m a g e d
a t the time, were even pla s tered over a nd c overed with whitewa s h. In
t h e 1 8 t h c e n t u r y, n e w p a i n t i n g s w h i c h m e t c o n t e m p o r a r y d e m a n d s
w e r e p a i n t e d i n o i l s o n t o p o f t h e o r i g i n a l s . I n t h e m i d - 1 9 t h c e n t u r y,
the frescos under the 18th -century paintings were cleared of the
overpainting and again covered with oil paintings which, however, were
Transept. North section. Diagram of frescos arrangement:
of no artistic value though the subjects were imitations of old
i c o n o g r a p h y.

Details of frescos:
A great role in the mural arrangement is played by the ornamentation which richly
enhances the beauty and richness of the cathedral's inner decor.

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Transept. South section. Diagram of frescos arrangement:
THANK YOU

Group Members:-
1. Saurabh Kumar Singh
2. Rachit Agrawal
3. Shakib
4. Shivam

Presentation Title