Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/501

Rh Bk. IX. Ch. VII. TCIIERNIGOW 485 O'.viiig to the early decline of the town it has not been much modern- ized. Tlje interior retains many of its primitive features. Among other furniture is a pair of bronze doors of Italian workmanship of the Vlth century closely resembling those of San Zenone at Verona. The part of the exterior that retains most of its early features is the east- ern end, represented in the Woodcut No. 941. It retains the long reed- like shafts which the Armenians borrowed from the Sassanians, and which ])eneti'ited even to this remote corner. Whether the two lower circular apses shown in the view are old is by no means clear ; but it is probable that they are at least built on ancient foundations. The domes on the roof, and indeed all the upper part of the building, belong to a more modern date tlian the substructure. The cathedral of Tchernigow, near Kieff, founded 1024, retains perhaps more of its original appearance externally than any other church of its age. Like ahnost all Russian churches it is square in plan, with a dome in the centre sur- rounded by four smaller cupolas placed diagonally at the corners. To the east- ward ai-e three apses, and the narthex is flanked l)y two round towers, the upjier parts of which, with the roofs, have been modern- ized, but the whole of the walls j-emain as originally erected, especially the end of the transept, which pre- cisely resembles what we find in Greek cliurches of the period. To the same age belong the convent of the Volkof (1100) and of Yourief at Novogorod, the church of the Ascension, and several others at Kieff. All these are so modernized as, except in their plans, to show but slight traces of their origin. Another of the great buildings of the age was the cathedral of Vladimir (1046). It is said to have been built, like the rest, by Greek artists. The richness and beauty of this building have been celebrated by early travellers, but it has been entirely passed over by more modern writers. From this it is perhaps to be inferred that its ancient form is completely disguised in modern alterations. The ascendency of Kieff was of short duration. Early in the 13th century the city suffered greatly from civil wars, fires, and devasta 942. Cathedral at Tchernigow. (From Blasius, •' lleise ill Russland.")