Housing is as big as an elbow, and living is as big as a nail

The interior of a peasant home, which can be found in our time, has evolved over the centuries. Due to limited space, the layout of the house was very rational. So, we open the door, bending down, we enter...

The door leading to the hut was made low with a raised threshold, which contributed to greater heat retention in the house. In addition, the guest, entering the hut, willy-nilly had to bow to the owners and the icons in the red corner - a mandatory attribute of a peasant hut.

Fundamental when planning the hut was the location of the stove. The stove played the most important role in the house, and the very name “izba” comes from the Old Russian “istba, istobka”, that is, to heat, to heat.

The Russian stove fed, warmed, treated, they slept on it, and some even washed in it. Respectful attitude towards the stove was expressed in proverbs and sayings: “The stove is our dear mother”, “The whole red summer is on the stove”, “It’s like warming up on the stove”, “Both years and years - one place - the stove.” Russian riddles ask: “What can’t you get out of the hut?”, “What can’t be seen in the hut?” - warmth.

In the central regions of Russia, the stove usually stood in the right corner of the entrance. Such a hut was called a “spinner”. If the stove was located to the left of the entrance, then the hut was called “non-spinner”. The fact is that opposite the stove, on the long side of the house, there was always a so-called “long” bench where women spun. And depending on the location of this shop in relation to the window and its illumination, the convenience for spinning, the huts were called “spinners” and “non-spinners”: “Do not spin by hand: the right hand is to the wall and not to the light.”

Often, to maintain the shape of an adobe hut, vertical “stove pillars” were placed in its corners. One of them, which faced the center of the hut, was always installed. Wide beams hewn from oak or pine were thrown from it to the side front wall. Because they were always black with soot, they were called Voronets. They were located at the height of human growth. “Yaga is standing, with horns on his forehead,” they asked a riddle about the Voronets. The one of the voronets that lined the long side wall was called the “ward beam.” The second ravine, which ran from the stove pillar to the front facade wall, was called the “closet, cake beam.” It was used by the hostess as a shelf for dishes. Thus, both Voronets marked the boundaries functional zones huts, or corners: on one side of the entrance there is a stove and cooking (woman's) kuta (corners), on the other - the master's (ward) kuta, and a red, or large, upper corner with icons and a table. The old saying, “A hut is not red in its corners, but red in its pies,” confirms the division of the hut into “corners” of different meanings.

The back corner (at the front door) has been masculine since ancient times. There was a konik here - a short, wide bench built along the back wall of the hut. Konik had the shape of a box with a hinged flat lid. The bunk was separated from the door (to prevent it from blowing at night) by a vertical board-back, which was often shaped like a horse's head. It was workplace men. Here they wove bast shoes, baskets, repaired horse harnesses, did carving, etc. Tools were stored in a box under the bunk. It was indecent for a woman to sit on a bunk.

This corner was also called the plate corner, because. here, right above the door, under the ceiling, near the stove, special floorings were installed - floors. One edge of the floor is cut into the wall, and the other rests on a floor beam. They slept on the floorboards, climbing into them from the stove. Here they dried flax, hemp, splinter, and put away bedding there for the day. Polati was the children's favorite place, because... from their height one could observe everything that was happening in the hut, especially during holidays: weddings, gatherings, festivities.

Any good person could enter the underpass without asking. Without knocking on the door, but for the plated beam the guest, at his will, is not allowed to go. Waiting for an invitation from the hosts to enter the next quarter - red at low levels was extremely inconvenient.

The woman's or stove corner is the kingdom of the female housewife of the "big lady". Here, right at the window (near the light) opposite the mouth of the furnace, hand millstones (two large flat stones) were always placed, so the corner was also called “millstone”. A wide bench ran along the wall from the stove to the front windows; sometimes there was a small table on which hot bread was laid out. There were observers hanging on the wall - shelves for dishes. There were various utensils on the shelves: wooden dishes, cups and spoons, clay bowls and pots, iron frying pans. On the benches and floor there are milk dishes (lids, jugs), cast iron, buckets, tubs. Sometimes there were copper and tin utensils.

In the stove (kutny) corner, women prepared food and rested. Here, during major holidays, when many guests gathered, a separate table was set for women. Men could not even go into the stove corner of their own family unless absolutely necessary. The appearance of a stranger there was regarded as a gross violation of established rules (traditions).

The millstone corner was considered a dirty place, in contrast to the rest of the clean space of the hut. Therefore, the peasants always sought to separate it from the rest of the room with a curtain made of variegated chintz, colored homespun or a wooden partition.

During the entire matchmaking, the future bride had to listen to the conversation from the woman's corner. She also came out from there during the show. There she awaited the arrival of the groom on the wedding day. And going out from there to the red corner was perceived as leaving home, saying goodbye to it.

A daughter in a cradle - a dowry in a box.

In the woman's corner there is a cradle hanging on a long pole (chepe). The pole, in turn, is threaded into a ring embedded in the ceiling matrix. In different areas, the cradle is made differently. It can be entirely woven from twigs, it can have a side panel made of bast, or a bottom made of fabric or wicker. And they also call it differently: cradle, shaky, kolyska, kolubalka. A rope loop or wooden pedal was tied to the cradle, which allowed the mother to rock the child without interrupting her work. The hanging position of the cradle is typical specifically for the Eastern Slavs - Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians. And this is connected not only with convenience, but primarily with popular beliefs (a cradle standing on the floor appears much later). According to the peasants, the separation of a child from the floor, the “bottom,” contributed to the preservation of vitality in him, because the floor was perceived as the border between the human world and the underground, where the “evil spirit” lives - the brownie, dead relatives, ghosts. In order to protect the child from evil spirits, sharp objects were placed under the cradle: a knife, scissors, a broom, etc.

The front, central part of the hut was the red corner. The red corner, like the stove, was an important landmark in the interior space of the hut.
No matter how the stove was located in the hut, the red corner was always located diagonally from it. The red corner was always well lit, since windows were cut into both walls making up this corner. He was always facing the sun, i.e. to the south or east. In the very corner, immediately under the shelf, they placed a shrine with icons and a lamp, which is why the corner was also called “holy”. Holy water, blessed willow and an Easter egg were kept on the shrine. There was certainly a feather for sweeping icons. It was believed that the icon must stand and not hang. Bills, promissory notes, payment notebooks, etc. were also placed here for the icons.

A curtain or “godnik” was hung on top of the shrine. This was the name given to a specially woven and embroidered narrow, long towel (20-25 cm * 3-4 m). It was decorated along one side and at the ends with embroidery, woven patterns, ribbons, and lace. They hung the god in such a way as to cover the icons from above and from the sides, leaving the faces open.

A refectory consecrated with shrines - that’s what the red corner is. Just as the living quarters of an Orthodox Christian are considered a symbol of an Orthodox church, so the Red Corner is considered as an analogue of the altar, the most important and honorable place in the house.

There were benches along the walls (front and side) of the red corner. In general, shops were set up along all the walls of the hut. They did not belong to furniture, but were an integral part of the log house and were fixedly attached to the walls. On one side they were cut into the wall, and on the other they were supported by supports cut from boards. A piece of wood decorated with carvings was sewn to the edge of the bench. Such a shop was called pubescent, or “with a canopy,” “with a valance.” They sat on them, slept on them, and stored things. Each shop had its own purpose and name. To the left of the door there was a back or threshold bench. That's what they called it, the konik. Behind it, along the long left side of the hut, from the bunk to the red corner, there was a long shop, different from the others in its length. Like the oven kut, this shop was traditionally considered a women's place. Here they sewed, knitted, spun, embroidered, and did handicrafts. That's why this shop was also called a woman's shop.
Along the front (facade) wall, from the red corner to the stove corner, there was a short bench (aka red, front). Men sat on it during family meals. From the front wall to the stove there was a bench. In winter, chickens were kept under this bench, covered with bars. And finally, behind the stove, to the door, there was a kutna shop. Buckets of water were placed on it.

A table was always placed in the red corner near the converging benches (long and short). The table has always been rectangular in shape with a powerful base. The tabletop was revered as the “palm of God” that gives bread. Therefore, knocking on the table was considered a sin. People used to say: “Bread on the table, so the table is a throne, but not a piece of bread, so the table is a board.”

The table was covered with a tablecloth. In the peasant hut, tablecloths were made from homespun, both simple plain weave and made using the technique of bran and multi-shaft weaving. Tablecloths used every day were sewn from two motley panels, usually with a checkered pattern (the colors are very varied) or simply rough canvas. This tablecloth was used to cover the table during lunch, and after eating it was either removed or used to cover the bread left on the table. Holiday tablecloths were different best quality fabrics, such additional details as lace stitching between two panels, tassels, lace or fringe around the perimeter, as well as a pattern on the fabric.

All significant family events took place in the red corner. Here the bride was bought, from here she was taken to the church for the wedding, and at the groom’s house she was immediately taken to the red corner. During the harvest, the first and last sheaves were ceremonially placed in the red corner. During the construction of the hut, if coins were placed under the corners of the first crown for good luck, then the largest one was placed under the red corner. They always tried to especially decorate this corner of the hut and keep it clean. The name “red” itself means “beautiful”, “light”. It is the most honorable place in the house. According to traditional etiquette, a person who came to a hut could only go there at the special invitation of the owners.

Those entering the hut, first of all, turned to the red corner and made the sign of the cross. A Russian proverb says: “The first bow is to God, the second is to the master and mistress, the third is to all good people.”

The place at the table in the red corner under the images was the most honorable: here sat the owner, or the guest of honor. “For a red guest, a red place.” Each family member knew his place at the table. The owner's eldest son sat right hand from the father, the second son is on the left, the third is next to his older brother, etc. “Every cricket knows its nest.” The housewife's place at the table is at the end of the table from the side of the woman's kut and the stove - she is the priestess of the home temple. She communicates with the oven and the fire of the oven, she starts the kneading bowl, puts the dough into the oven, and takes it out transformed into bread.

In addition to benches, the hut had mobile side benches. A place on a bench was considered more prestigious than on a bench; the guest could judge the hosts' attitude towards him depending on this. Where did they sit him - on a bench or on a bench?
The benches were usually covered with a special fabric - shelf cloth. And in general, the entire hut is decorated with home-made items: colored curtains cover the bed and bed on the stove, homespun muslin curtains on the windows, and multi-colored rugs on the floor. The window sills are decorated with geraniums, dear to the peasant’s heart.

Between the wall and the back or side of the stove there was an oven. When located behind the stove, horse harness was stored there; if on the side, then usually kitchen utensils.

On the other side of the stove, next to the front door, there was a golbets, a special wooden extension to the stove, along the stairs of which they went down to the basement (underground), where supplies were stored. Golbets also served as a place of rest, especially for the old and small. In some places, the high golbets were replaced by a box - a “trap”, 30 centimeters high from the floor, with a sliding lid, on which one could also sleep. Over time, the descent into the basement moved in front of the mouth of the furnace, and it was possible to get into it through a hole in the floor. The stove corner was considered the habitat of the brownie - the keeper of the hearth.

From the middle of the 19th century. In peasant homes, especially among wealthy peasants, a formal living room appears - the upper room. The upper room could have been a summer room; in case of all-season use, it was heated with a Dutch oven. The upper rooms, as a rule, had a more colorful interior than the hut. Chairs, beds, and piles of chests were used in the interior of the upper rooms.

The interior of a peasant house, which has evolved over centuries, represents the best example of a combination of convenience and beauty. There is nothing superfluous here and every thing is in its place, everything is at hand. The main criterion for a peasant house was convenience, so that a person could live, work and relax in it. However, in the construction of the hut one cannot help but see the need for beauty inherent in the Russian people.
In the interior of a Russian hut, the horizontal rhythm of furniture (benches, beds, shelves) dominates. The interior is united by a single material and carpentry techniques. The natural color of the wood was preserved. Presenter color scheme was golden-ocher (the walls of the hut, furniture, dishes, utensils) with the introduction of white and red colors (the towels on the icons were white, the red color sparkled in small spots in clothes, towels, in plants on the windows, in the painting of household utensils).

House, hut, hut, nice, hut. All these words mean home. But how do they differ from each other? The answer will probably be something like this: home any building is called; hut, hut buildings in the village. Wherein hut in our minds it is always chopped, wooden, and hut most likely a clay, whitewashed building in Ukraine, Belarus and southern Russia. In a word chicken mainly called a house, a hut on the Don and Kuban. When the name is mentioned mansions We imagine rich, high-rise housing.
What about dialects? Let's look at the map.
Word hut is the most common: it is known both in the north, and in Central Russian dialects, and in the southeastern part of the southern dialect.

(A. Bely. Village.)

Occupying such a vast territory, the name hut coexists with all other names. In the north and west with the name mansions(cm. ). Let us list the most common cases of distribution of meanings between these words in the same dialect. (But we must remember that they do not exhaust all the diversity possible options),
1) Word ok we denotes a large building, often two-story, and hut ordinary, one-story. 2) Izba that part of the building where people live, mansions they call the entire structure: living rooms and premises for livestock yard. This happens more often in the North, where housing is closely adjacent to outbuildings so that people do not freeze when moving from one part to another. 3) Hut called a four-wall log house. IN mansions or home(both words mean the whole structure) happens summer And winter hut. Already from the names one can judge that in summer hut live in the warm season, so it is not heated, but winter hut, on the contrary, with a stove. 4) Mansions and huts are used as synonyms, i.e. they are equivalent.
Let's turn to history. Word hut, other Russian isba"house, bathhouse" ( source in The Tale of Bygone Years), known to all Slavs. In many Slavic languages ​​it is used to mean “room”, for example Czech, Slovak, Polish, Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian. Comes from the Proto-Slavic form *jьstъba, which could have been borrowed either from German. *stuba, probably “warm room, bath,” or from rum. *extŭ fa with the same meaning.
Let's talk about the word mansions. You probably noticed the similarity of words ok we And we are temples. The first word with full consent -oro-, second with disagreement -ra-. Full-vowel combinations are characteristic of the Russian language, while partial-vowel combinations were borrowed from Church Slavonic: gates – gate, city city, short short. In ancient Russian written monuments, researchers find pairs in unison – temple, good mina – temple mina, meaning “house, building”, “room”. But it turns out that even then there were differences in the use and meaning of these pairs. In the texts of church content the form is fixed temple, temple mina in the meaning of “church”, and full vowel forms ok we, good mina remained with the meaning “building in general.”
In modern dialects we find the following examples with this word: Go to your Khoromina, look how the beauty stands; There was a big fire, five burned in unison; Khoromina is a rich construction site: residential and courtyard buildings.
Name house, as well as hut, is very widespread. Usually they have the same meaning. Sometimes in dialectological materials it is reported that house a newer word, “urban”. But differences in meanings are also possible, similar to those that we noted when comparing the names ok we And hut. This is how this difference is realized by the Vologda writer V. Belov: “If you put hut on the basement, then such a structure can be called home». Connect, connect the lower part of the house, used for housing or storage; This means that the house itself is a one-and-a-half-story or two-story building. But there are many examples of a different kind, indicating the synonymy of meanings. In the poetry of N. A. Nekrasov, who grew up in the village. Greshneva, Yaroslavl province, we encounter the following lines:

Words are used as synonyms hut And house from a native of the Tver province A. N. Pleshcheev:

In the southwest we see the area of ​​the word ha ta. Occasionally it is found in other territories. Determine exactly where on the map. Used in the same dialects as the name hut, hut often coincides with it in meaning. But there are dialects in which these words have different meanings:
in this case hut may indicate a brick building, hut wooden; or hut – good construction, hut bad and vice versa: hut bad, but hut good.
The parallel use of these two words in the meaning of “peasant dwelling” is often found not only in dialects, but also in fiction. For example, in the poems of S. A. Yesenin, a native of the village. Konstantinov, Ryazan province:

There are also dialects where three words appear: hut, hut, house. Writers, probably without suspecting it themselves, quite accurately convey the language of their region. Tulyak N.V. Uspensky writes: “In hut one rooster crowed, followed by another, a third began to crow from the courtyard, the wind howled pitifully under the window and whistled in the wattle fence from the storm hut often shuddered." And in another story: “I went into their ruined house, and all they had in the yard was a chicken and a chicken" ( ko even name of a rooster in the southern dialect).
And again from history. According to etymologists, ha ta a word borrowed by the Slavs from Iranian languages, where it meant a dugout-type house. There is no consensus on how the borrowing took place. Some linguists believe that the Slavs adopted it directly from the speakers of Iranian languages ​​- the Scythians and Sarmatians. Others believe that it came into the East Slavic languages ​​through Hungarian at a time when the ancestors of the Hungarians migrated from across the Volga to their modern homeland, Hungary.
Word chicken found only in the dialects of the southern dialect, where it is used along with the name hut. This word is borrowed from the Chagatai (Old Uzbek) language, where kürän meant “crowd, tribe, troop of warriors”, as well as “bakery”.
So far we have been talking about different names peasant dwelling, minimally touching on the dissimilarity in the type of construction. However, everyone who traveled around Russia noticed the difference between houses in the north and south in height, in layout, in building materials, and in decoration. Indeed, ethnographers studying the material and spiritual culture of the people usually distinguish three main types of residential buildings characteristic of the Russian village: northern, central Russian, southern.
For traditional home The north, where there are long, harsh winters, is characterized by large houses made of coniferous trees on a high basement, in which storerooms or workshops were located. As mentioned above, housing and a yard are combined under one roof: outbuildings for livestock, storage of feed, tools, etc. The yard is adjacent to residential building, as a rule, at the back and is also often two-tiered. There are plenty of forests all around, so good quality material the peasant did not limit himself. The huts are richly decorated with flat or slotted carvings. The house is heated by a Russian stove located at the entrance. The angle diagonally from the stove is called red, or in front of him (big, saints). It has always been the most honorable; icons are hung in it or placed on the shelf of the goddess. Under the icons there is a table where the family gathers every day. The living space usually consists of a warm hut winter hut (winter hut), entryway(bridge) and summer hut, it is also called cage, lighthouse, maid etc.
The same layout is known in central Russia, only basement here it could be lower and the courtyard was connected to the housing in different ways. It could be located, as in the North, behind, could be placed on the side, or could be built completely separately. The roof of the house is either gable (northern line) or hipped (southern line). The façade was decorated with carved lace. The Volga region towns and villages were especially famous for him. Northern and Central Russian huts faced the street with their narrow side, on which there were three, four, or even five windows.
South Russian dwelling, usually called hut, was built without a basement, the floor was wooden or adobe, earthen. Houses in areas bordering Ukraine were coated with clay and whitewashed. The dwellings could have been logged. But since there are few forests in the southern regions, houses were made of brick or adobe (adobe). Unlike the northern and central Russian type, the southern Russian house faced the street on its long side.
The construction of a home was a very important event for a peasant family. At first the owners collected I can(see the map “Names of collective assistance in rural work”) in order to bring timber for felling. Then carpenters were most often hired. Each step in construction was accompanied by special rituals; attention was paid to many signs when choosing a place for a hut, when laying a house, when raising a log house, when installing ceiling beam, roofs, etc. In many villages, during construction, a young tree - rowan, fir, birch, oak - was placed in the future red corner so that the owner and the whole family would be healthy. And under the corners of the house it was customary to put money and grain for wealth, wool for warmth, incense for holiness. And, of course, there were many proverbs and sayings relating to the house:
The most precious thing is a well-fed honor and a covered hut; Your own hut native womb, The hut smells like housing.
On the pages of works of art there are numerous descriptions of peasant dwellings.
A.F. Pisemsky, a native of the poor nobility of the Chukhloma district of the Kostroma province, describes in great detail in one of his stories the features of his native places: “The Chukhloma district is sharply different, for example, from Nerekhta, Kineshma, Yuryevets and others (Kostroma province) - this you will notice when you enter its first village. It can be said positively that in each of them you will notice big house, decorated with various different things: patterned, painted cornices, patterned window sills, some small balconies, God knows what they were built for, because there is no exit from anywhere"
And here’s how the prose writer A.I. Ertel, a native of the Voronezh province, writes about the hut in his homeland: “It was a spacious pine hut, clean, warm, with a wooden floor, with a “white” stove. On the table, covered with a rough tablecloth, lay a whole loaf of sieve bread and a wooden carved salt shaker. A tallow candle was burning in a tall wooden candlestick.” (“White” stove is the one with a chimney.)
In S. T. Aksakov’s “Family Chronicle” we read: “Despite, however, the unfavorable appearance of the village in unison“Everything in the rooms was clean and tidy.”
If you come across incomprehensible words in the above texts, look up their meanings in the 17-part “Dictionary of Modern Russian Literary Language” or V. I. Dahl’s Dictionary.

A Russian dwelling is not a separate house, but a fenced yard in which several buildings, both residential and commercial, were built. Izba was the general name for a residential building. The word "izba" comes from the ancient "istba", "heater". Initially, this was the name given to the main heated living part of the house with a stove.

As a rule, the dwellings of rich and poor peasants in villages practically differed in quality, the number of buildings, and the quality of decoration, but they consisted of the same elements. The presence of such outbuildings as a barn, barn, shed, bathhouse, cellar, stable, exit, moss barn, etc. depended on the level of development of the economy. All buildings were literally chopped with an ax from the beginning to the end of construction, although longitudinal and transverse saws were known and used. The concept of “peasant yard” included not only buildings, but also the plot of land on which they were located, including a vegetable garden, orchard, threshing floor, etc.

Main building material there was a tree. The number of forests with excellent “business” forests far exceeded what is now preserved in the vicinity of Saitovka. Pine and spruce were considered the best types of wood for buildings, but pine was always given preference. Oak was valued for its strength, but it was heavy and difficult to work with. It was used only in the lower crowns of log houses, for the construction of cellars, or in structures where special strength was needed (mills, wells, salt barns). Other tree species, especially deciduous (birch, alder, aspen), were used in construction, usually of outbuildings

For each need, trees were selected according to special characteristics. So, for the walls of the log house they tried to select special “warm” trees, covered with moss, straight, but not necessarily straight-layered. At the same time, not just straight, but straight-layered trees were necessarily chosen for roofing. More often, log houses were assembled in the yard or close to the yard. We carefully chose the location for our future home.

For the construction of even the largest log-type buildings, a special foundation was usually not built along the perimeter of the walls, but supports were laid in the corners of the huts - large boulders or so-called “chairs” made of oak stumps. In rare cases, if the length of the walls was much greater than usual, supports were placed in the middle of such walls. The very nature of the log structure of the buildings allowed us to limit ourselves to support on four main points, since the log house was a seamless structure.

Peasant huts

The vast majority of buildings were based on a “cage”, a “crown” - a bunch of four logs, the ends of which were chopped into a connection. The methods of such cutting could vary in technique.

The main structural types of log-built peasant residential buildings were “cross”, “five-walled”, and a house with a log. For insulation, moss mixed with tow was laid between the crowns of the logs.

but the purpose of the connection was always the same - to fasten the logs together into a square with strong knots without any additional elements connections (staples, nails, wooden pins or knitting needles, etc.). Each log had a strictly defined place in the structure. Having cut down the first crown, a second was cut on it, a third on the second, etc., until the frame reached a predetermined height.

The roofs of the huts were mainly covered with thatch, which, especially in lean years, often served as feed for livestock. Sometimes wealthier peasants erected roofs made of planks or shingles. The tes were made by hand. To do this, two workers used tall sawhorses and a long rip saw.

Everywhere, like all Russians, the peasants of Saitovka, according to a widespread custom, when laying the foundation of a house, placed money under the lower crown in all corners, with the red corner receiving a larger coin. And where the stove was placed, they did not put anything, since this corner, according to popular belief, was intended for the brownie.

In the upper part of the log house across the hut there was a tetrahedral uterus wooden beam, serving as a support for the ceilings. The matka was cut into the upper crowns of the log house and was often used to hang objects from the ceiling. So, a ring was nailed to it, through which the ochep (flexible pole) of the cradle (shaky pole) passed. In the middle, to illuminate the hut, a lantern with a candle was hung, and later - a kerosene lamp with a lampshade.

In the rituals associated with the completion of the construction of a house, there was a mandatory treat, which was called “matika”. In addition, the placement of the uterus itself, after which there was still quite a large volume left construction work, was considered as a special stage in the construction of a house and was furnished with its own rituals.

In the wedding ceremony, for a successful matchmaking, the matchmakers never entered the house for the queen without a special invitation from the owners of the house. In the popular language, the expression “to sit under the womb” meant “to be a matchmaker.” The womb was associated with the idea of ​​the father's house, good luck, and happiness. So, when leaving home, you had to hold on to your uterus.

For insulation along the entire perimeter, the lower crowns of the hut were covered with earth, forming a pile in front of which a bench was installed. In the summer, old people whiled away the evening time on the rubble and on the bench. Fallen leaves and dry soil were usually placed on top of the ceiling. The space between the ceiling and the roof - the attic - in Saitovka was also called the stavka. It was usually used to store things that had outlived their useful life, utensils, dishes, furniture, brooms, tufts of grass, etc. Children made their own simple hiding places on it.

A porch and a canopy were always attached to a residential hut - a small room that protected the hut from the cold. The role of the canopy was varied. This included a protective vestibule in front of the entrance, additional living space in the summer, and a utility room where part of the food supplies were kept.

The soul of the whole house was the stove. It should be noted that the so-called “Russian”, or more correctly oven, is a purely local invention and quite ancient. It traces its history back to Trypillian dwellings. But during the second millennium AD, very significant changes occurred in the design of the oven itself, which made it possible to use fuel much more fully.

Building a good stove is not an easy task. First, a small wooden frame (opechek) was installed directly on the ground, which served as the foundation of the furnace. Small logs split in half were laid on it and the bottom of the oven was laid on them - under, level, without tilting, otherwise the baked bread would turn out lopsided. A furnace vault was built above the hearth from stone and clay. The side of the oven had several shallow holes, called stoves, in which mittens, mittens, socks, etc. were dried. In the old days, huts (smoking houses) were heated in a black way - the stove did not have a chimney. The smoke escaped through a small fiberglass window. Although the walls and ceiling became sooty, we had to put up with it: a stove without a chimney was cheaper to build and required less firewood. Subsequently, in accordance with the rules of rural improvement, mandatory for state peasants, chimneys began to be installed above the huts.

First of all, the “big woman” stood up - the owner’s wife, if she was not yet old, or one of the daughters-in-law. She flooded the stove, opened the door and smoker wide. The smoke and cold lifted everyone. The little kids were sat on a pole to warm themselves. Acrid smoke filled the entire hut, crawled upward, and hung under the ceiling taller than a man. An ancient Russian proverb, known since the 13th century, says: “Having not endured smoky sorrows, we have not seen warmth.” The smoked logs of the houses were less susceptible to rotting, so the smoking huts were more durable.

The stove occupied almost a quarter of the home's area. It was heated for several hours, but once warmed up, it kept warm and warmed the room for 24 hours. The stove served not only for heating and cooking, but also as a bed. Bread and pies were baked in the oven, porridge and cabbage soup were cooked, meat and vegetables were stewed. In addition, mushrooms, berries, grain, and malt were also dried in it. They often took steam in the oven that replaced the bathhouse.

In all cases of life, the stove came to the aid of the peasant. And the stove had to be heated not only in winter, but throughout the year. Even in summer, it was necessary to heat the oven well at least once a week in order to bake a sufficient supply of bread. Using the ability of the oven to accumulate heat, peasants cooked food once a day, in the morning, left the food inside the oven until lunch - and the food remained hot. Only during late summer dinners did food have to be heated. This feature of the oven had a decisive influence on Russian cooking, in which the processes of simmering, boiling, and stewing predominate, and not only peasant cooking, since the lifestyle of many small nobles did not differ much from peasant life.

The oven served as a lair for the whole family. Old people slept on the stove, the warmest place in the hut, and climbed up there using steps - a device in the form of 2-3 steps. One of mandatory elements the interior was repainted - wood flooring from the side wall of the stove to the opposite side of the hut. They slept on the floorboards, climbed out of the stove, and dried flax, hemp, and splinters. Bedding and unnecessary clothes were thrown there for the day. The floors were made high, at the same level as the height of the stove. The free edge of the floors was often protected by low railings-balusters so that nothing would fall from the floors. Polati were a favorite place for children: both as a place to sleep and as the most convenient observation point during peasant holidays and weddings.

The location of the stove determined the layout of the entire living room. Usually the stove was placed in the corner to the right or left of the front door. The corner opposite the mouth of the stove was the housewife's workplace. Everything here was adapted for cooking. At the stove there was a poker, a grip, a broom, and a wooden shovel. Nearby there is a mortar with a pestle, hand millstones and a tub for leavening dough. They used a poker to remove the ash from the stove. The cook grabbed pot-bellied clay or cast iron pots (cast iron) with her grip and sent them into the heat. She pounded the grain in a mortar, clearing it of husks, and with the help of a mill she ground it into flour. A broom and a shovel were necessary for baking bread: a peasant woman used a broom to sweep under the stove, and with a shovel she planted the future loaf on it.

There was always a cleaning bowl hanging next to the stove, i.e. towel and washbasin. Under it stood a wooden tub for dirty water. In the stove corner there was also a ship's bench (vessel) or counter with shelves inside, used as a kitchen table. On the walls there were observers - cabinets, shelves for simple tableware: pots, ladles, cups, bowls, spoons. The owner of the house himself made them from wood. In the kitchen one could often see pottery in “clothes” made of birch bark - thrifty owners did not throw away cracked pots, pots, bowls, but braided them with strips of birch bark for strength. Above was a stove beam (pole), on which was placed kitchenware and various household supplies were stowed. The eldest woman in the house was the sovereign mistress of the stove corner.

Stove corner

The stove corner was considered a dirty place, in contrast to the rest of the clean space of the hut. Therefore, the peasants always sought to separate it from the rest of the room with a curtain made of variegated chintz or colored homespun, a tall cabinet or a wooden partition. Thus closed, the corner of the stove formed a small room called a “closet”. The stove corner was considered an exclusively female space in the hut. During the holiday, when many guests gathered in the house, a second table was placed near the stove for women, where they feasted separately from the men sitting at the table in the red corner. Men, even their own families, could not enter the women’s quarters unless absolutely necessary. The appearance of a stranger there was considered completely unacceptable.

During the matchmaking, the future bride had to be in the stove corner all the time, being able to hear the entire conversation. She emerged from the corner of the stove, smartly dressed, during the bride's ceremony - the ceremony of introducing the groom and his parents to the bride. There, the bride awaited the groom on the day of his departure down the aisle. In ancient wedding songs, the stove corner was interpreted as a place associated with the father's house, family, and happiness. The bride's exit from the stove corner to the red corner was perceived as leaving home, saying goodbye to it.

At the same time, the corner of the stove, from which there is access to the underground, was perceived on a mythological level as a place where a meeting of people with representatives of the “other” world could take place. According to legend, a fiery serpent-devil can fly through a chimney to a widow yearning for her dead husband. It was generally accepted that on especially special days for the family: during the baptism of children, birthdays, weddings, deceased parents - “ancestors” - come to the stove to take part in an important event in the lives of their descendants.

The place of honor in the hut - the red corner - was located diagonally from the stove between the side and front walls. It, like the stove, is an important landmark of the interior space of the hut and is well lit, since both of its constituent walls had windows. The main decoration of the red corner was a shrine with icons, in front of which a lamp was burning, suspended from the ceiling, which is why it was also called “saint”.

Red corner

They tried to keep the red corner clean and elegantly decorated. It was decorated with embroidered towels, popular prints, and postcards. With the advent of wallpaper, the red corner was often pasted over or separated from the rest of the hut space. The most beautiful household utensils were placed on the shelves near the red corner, and the most valuable papers and objects were stored.

All significant events of family life were noted in the red corner. Here, as the main piece of furniture, there was a table on massive legs on which runners were installed. The runners made it easy to move the table around the hut. It was placed near the stove when baking bread, and moved while washing the floor and walls.

It was followed by both everyday meals and festive feasts. Every day at lunchtime the whole peasant family gathered at the table. The table was of such a size that there was enough space for everyone. In the wedding ceremony, the matchmaking of the bride, her ransom from her girlfriends and brother took place in the red corner; from the red corner of her father's house they took her to the church for the wedding, brought her to the groom's house and took her to the red corner too. During the harvest, the first and last compressed sheaf was solemnly carried from the field and placed in the red corner.

"The first compressed sheaf was called the birthday boy. Autumn threshing began with it, straw was used to feed sick cattle, the grains of the first sheaf were considered healing for people and birds. The first sheaf was usually reaped by the eldest woman in the family. It was decorated with flowers, carried into the house with songs and placed in the red corner under the icons." The preservation of the first and last ears of the harvest, endowed, according to popular beliefs, with magical powers promised well-being for the family, home, and entire household.

Everyone who entered the hut first took off his hat, crossed himself and bowed to the images in the red corner, saying: “Peace to this house.” Peasant etiquette ordered a guest who entered the hut to remain in half of the hut at the door, without going beyond the womb. Unauthorized, uninvited entry into the “red half” where the table was placed was considered extremely indecent and could be perceived as an insult. A person who came to the hut could only go there at the special invitation of the owners. The most dear guests were seated in the red corner, and during the wedding - the young ones. On ordinary days here for dining table the head of the family was seated.

The last remaining corner of the hut, to the left or right of the door, was the workplace of the owner of the house. There was a bench here where he slept. A tool was stored in a drawer underneath. In his free time, the peasant in his corner was engaged in various crafts and minor repairs: weaving bast shoes, baskets and ropes, cutting spoons, hollowing out cups, etc.

Although most peasant huts consisted of only one room, not divided by partitions, an unspoken tradition prescribed certain rules of accommodation for members of the peasant hut. If the stove corner was the female half, then in one of the corners of the house there was a special place for the older married couple to sleep. This place was considered honorable.

Shop

Most of the “furniture” formed part of the structure of the hut and was immovable. Along all the walls not occupied by the stove, there were wide benches, hewn from the most large trees. They were intended not so much for sitting as for sleeping. The benches were firmly attached to the wall. Another important furniture benches and stools were considered that could be freely moved from place to place when guests arrived. Above the benches, along all the walls, there were shelves - “shelves”, on which household items, small tools, etc. were stored. Special wooden pegs for clothes were also driven into the wall.

An integral attribute of almost every Saitovka hut was a pole - a beam embedded in the opposite walls of the hut under the ceiling, which in the middle, opposite the wall, was supported by two plows. The second pole rested with one end against the first pole, and with the other against the pier. Designated design in winter time was the support of the mill for weaving matting and other auxiliary operations associated with this craft.

spinning wheel

Housewives were especially proud of their turned, carved and painted spinning wheels, which were usually placed in a prominent place: they served not only as a tool of labor, but also as a decoration for the home. Usually, peasant girls with elegant spinning wheels went to “gatherings” - cheerful rural gatherings. The “white” hut was decorated with homemade weaving items. The bedcloth and bed were covered with colored curtains made of linen fiber. The windows had curtains made of homespun muslin, and the window sills were decorated with geraniums, dear to the peasant's heart. The hut was cleaned especially carefully for the holidays: women washed with sand and scraped white with large knives - “mowers” ​​- the ceiling, walls, benches, shelves, floors.

Peasants kept their clothes in chests. The greater the wealth in the family, the more chests there are in the hut. They were made of wood and lined with iron strips for strength. Often the chests had ingenious mortise locks. If a girl grew up in a peasant family, then from an early age her dowry was collected in a separate chest.

A poor Russian man lived in this space. Often in the winter cold, domestic animals were kept in the hut: calves, lambs, kids, piglets, and sometimes poultry.

The decoration of the hut reflected the artistic taste and skill of the Russian peasant. The silhouette of the hut was crowned with a carved

ridge (ridge) and porch roof; the pediment was decorated with carved piers and towels, the planes of the walls were decorated with window frames, often reflecting the influence of city architecture (Baroque, classicism, etc.). The ceiling, door, walls, stove, and less often the outer pediment were painted.

Utility room

Non-residential peasant buildings made up the household yard. Often they were gathered together and placed under the same roof as the hut. They built a farm yard in two tiers: in the lower one there were barns for cattle and a stable, and in the upper one there was a huge hay barn filled with fragrant hay. A significant part of the farm yard was occupied by a shed for storing working equipment - plows, harrows, as well as carts and sleighs. The more prosperous the peasant, the larger his household yard was.

Separate from the house, they usually built a bathhouse, a well, and a barn. It is unlikely that the baths of that time were very different from those that can still be found now - a small log house,

sometimes without a dressing room. In one corner there is a stove-stove, next to it there are shelves or shelves on which they steamed. In another corner is a water barrel, which was heated by throwing hot stones into it. Later, cast iron boilers began to be installed in stoves to heat water. To soften the water, add wood ash, thus preparing the lye. The entire decoration of the bathhouse was illuminated by a small window, the light from which was drowned in the blackness of the smoky walls and ceilings, since in order to save wood, the bathhouses were heated “black” and the smoke came out through the slightly open door. From above, such a structure often had an almost flat pitched roof, covered with straw, birch bark and turf.

The barn, and often the cellar underneath it, was placed in plain sight opposite the windows and away from the dwelling, so that in the event of a hut fire, a year's supply of grain could be preserved. A lock was hung on the barn door - perhaps the only one in the entire household. In the barn, in huge boxes (bottom boxes), the main wealth of the farmer was stored: rye, wheat, oats, barley. It’s not for nothing that they used to say in the villages: “What’s in the barn is what’s in the pocket.”

To arrange the cellar, they chose a higher and drier place that was not flooded with hollow water. The pit for the cellar was dug deep enough so that the vegetables stored in the cellar would not freeze during severe frosts. Halves of oak logs were used as the walls of the cellar - tyn. The ceiling of the cellar was also made from the same halves, but more powerful. The top of the cellar was filled with earth. There was a hole leading into the cellar, which was called tvorilami and in winter, as always, was insulated from above. In the cellar, as in the barn, there were also pits for storing potatoes, beets, carrots, etc. IN summer time the cellar was used as a refrigerator in which milk and perishable foods were stored.

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Artistic-imaginative system of peasant housing

In the popular consciousness, the house personified the world. If the world was perceived as whole, then the house was whole ensemble, if the world was logically grounded, then the house was built in this image. Its structure reflected cosmological ideas person. The opposition between “one’s own” (lived-in, human) and “alien” (hostile, associated with evil spirits) was expressed in the idea of ​​the protective power of the home. On the other hand, man felt himself not just a part of the world and nature, but a center (but not a “king”); and in the home the main semantic and compositional center was the person (anthropocentrism). Moreover, ideas about the house as a close, living being were anthropomorphic aspect of it semantics. The aesthetic principles of organizing Russian peasant housing corresponded aesthetic ideas people.

All these ideas and ideas were embodied in the artistic images of the architectural decor system. Thus, architectural decor expressed a person’s worldview, highlighted the structure of the structure and performed an aesthetic function.

The peasant hut was an integral structure, an ensemble, where every element and every thing was organically connected with the whole and included in the general hierarchy. This hierarchy was reflected both in the external and internal space of the hut, both in its vertical and horizontal structure. The basis of the vertical structure is trinity: the roof (and the ceiling inside) symbolized the sky and connected the house with heaven. The ancient dwelling did not yet have a ceiling, and the two slopes of the huge high roof seemed like a horizon; In addition, the main stream of light poured from the dormer window under the roof on the gable. Naturally, the outside decor of the pediment - the upper part of the house - is replete with solar symbolism. The image of a horse crowning the roof is associated with light, the sun, and the pagan god Perun, the lord of lightning and thunder. Along the roof slopes on the pediment there were figured boards - prnchelina- the covering ends are slightly rotting. Their simple geometric ornament symbolized water, or rather, the reserves of water in heaven - “heavenly abysses”. The sun rolled across the sky: it was depicted on the so-called towels - carved boards hanging from the right and left slopes of the roof and under the ridge. The rising and setting sun was carved on the lower towels, and the midday sun was carved under the ridge. The skylight window on the pediment was also decorated with solar symbolism. Its structural parts - chickens - were made in the form of silhouettes of birds (the speed of a bird's flight was associated with the speed of light). The streams, which were supported by chickens, often ended with stylized heads of dragon serpents (this image is simultaneously associated with the elements of air (fire serpent) and water and refers to pure forces in pagan mythology).

The middle part of the ternary structure is the living, human space. If the top of the hut symbolized its connection with the sky, then in the figurative structure of the middle part - human space - the main thing was the relationship of the house and its inhabitants with the environment, with the natural world. This idea received particular development with the spread of red windows. “Own” space inside the hut was contrasted with the outside, full of mysterious and evil forces. Windows and doors were perceived as loopholes for these forces and had to be reliably protected by decor of security and magical properties. For the most part, this applied to windows, and not to doors, since an iron door lock or an iron ax under the threshold, according to popular beliefs, could not escape any evil forces. On the other hand, windows connected the house with the outside world and were a source of light, which was poetically represented as a connection with nature. These poetic views were reflected in the solar symbolism of the platbands on the outside of the house and in their decoration with embroidered towels from the inside. The spread of the roof structure on the rafters caused the appearance of a new functional and decorative element - a frontal board (a wide horizontal board covering the junction of the frame and the pediment, covered with vertical boards). This board on the facade seemed to define the boundary of the earthly and heavenly worlds. She covered herself blind thread. The images of this carving - zoomorphic, plant - expressed nature, the world surrounding man. The images of the frontal board interacted with the solar symbolism of the platbands and seemed to attract light into the house, which means prosperity, fertility, and wealth. The surviving monuments of the Russian North were an example of an ancient dwelling, in which vertical rhythms predominated and the idea of ​​interaction with the sky was embodied. The decor of northern houses is laconic and concentrated in the upper part of the building; solar symbolism predominates in it. A striking example of another, later dwelling, with a predominance of horizontal rhythms aimed at interaction with the outside world and people - houses in the middle zone and the Volga region. The decor of Volga region houses, with an abundance of solid carvings, represented examples of the embodiment of ancient motifs of folk art, stylistic techniques of ship carving and borrowings from classical stone architecture.

In the interior of the living space, as the middle tier of the ternary structure, there was almost no architectural decor. The exception was the dwellings of the Urals and Siberia, where painting was actively used in the interior. The role of decor in the figurative structure of the hut passes to the object-artistic ensemble (decoration of the dwelling with fabrics, objects of decorative and applied art, furnishings). Images of architectural decor are repeated in the decoration of objects, which unites the home into an ensemble. The basis of the interior ensemble of the hut was the horizontal hierarchy of space. The compositional center of the interior was the red corner (“God’s”, “holy” corner). God “dwelt” here, the whole family gathered together, solemn events took place (weddings, funerals). A table was placed here (a table in a house was perceived as a throne in a church). In contrast to the red corner, the oven was the ancient pagan center of the dwelling, and the baking and oven space was the abode of the brownie. In the vertical structure of the interior, special importance was attached to the floor and ceiling, as boundaries with the abode of evil spirits (underground and attic). It had an important semantic meaning mother- a cross beam supporting the ceiling boards as the main structural element of the house. It symbolically divided the space of the hut: having passed under it, a person found himself, as it were, from the hallway into the front room. The underground in the ternary structure of the hut, according to the peasants' ideas, - an underground world full of mysterious spirits and evil spirits - was not consolidated in the images of architectural decor, probably out of a reluctance to attract evil spirits into the home.

Thus, the artistic and figurative system of the dwelling not only reflected the peasant’s idea of ​​the world order, but was also a way of figurative and artistic exploration of the world, just like folk art in general.

Historical sources about mansion architecture

The word “mansion” in ancient times meant a residential building (“horom”, “khoromina”), and later - a large residential building of a wealthy owner. Consequently, mansions, like the hut, were a type of dwelling, wooden or half-wooden, as opposed to stone chambers.

Information about mansions is contained in archaeological, written and graphic sources, folklore, and ancient Russian painting. Archaeological excavations in Novgorod, Kiev and some other Russian cities give an idea of ​​the layout and design of ancient Russian mansions. In Novgorod, structures of complex configuration were found, consisting of cages attached to each other. These structures were located inside huge estates, surrounded on all sides by a palisade. The residential and outbuildings of the estate were connected by log paths. Archaeologists claim that the mansions could have 2-3 floors.

Among the written sources, we are especially interested in the chronicles and notes of foreign travelers who left their evidence about the appearance of ancient Russian cities, palaces and mansions, as well as domestic descriptions of the chorus of the 16th-16th centuries.

Graphic sources - mainly book miniatures - have preserved the appearance of the mansion, stone chambers and palaces. From them we can imagine the appearance of these structures dating back to the 16th-18th centuries.

Epics give the most figurative description external appearance, internal structure, decorative decoration and functioning of the premises of the choir. It is from them that we can partially recreate the artistic and figurative system of this type of structure. The epics depict the image of a choir of the 16th-16th centuries, but experts, based on the stability of the traditions of wooden architecture, suggest that they may contain a description of more ancient buildings.

According to all sources, we can get the most complete picture of mansion architecture by examining the Stroganov mansions in Solvychegodsk and the wooden palace in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow.

Mansions could have stone lower and wooden upper floors (see reconstructions of Pskov mansions made by Yu. P. Spegalsky).

Layout and purpose of rooms in the mansion

The basis of the mansion structure would be l same log house Self the structure consisted of numerous cages connected by passages and vestibules. Old Russian mansions differed from a peasant house only in size, complexity of layout and decorations. Mansions are primarily urban housing. Archaeological data and descriptions of the choir in epics and other written sources make it possible to reconstruct the external appearance of the architectural ensemble of the choir. In epics it is constantly mentioned that the mansions stand in a “wide” courtyard, which is surrounded by a palisade - “damask steel.” There was a so-called clean and economic yard. Archaeological excavations confirm that the size of the estates was truly significant. Log cabins mansion complex stood on a high basement and were built on with towers, attics, and towers (a tower is a summer room mainly in the women's half). The roofs of towers and towers could be hipped, gable, barrel or even cube (as can be seen from the drawings of the palace in Kolomenskoye). The dominant feature of the ensemble was the “povalusha” - a high log tower of 3-4 floors. The ensemble was complemented by such functional and decorative elements as porches. The porch could be “carried over” (with railings). The “lockers” - platforms under the “shoots” (stairs) - rested on massive carved pillars. Intricate roofs and turrets were erected over the front “red” porch.

The windows in the mansions were both woven and sloping. Red windows could be mica or even “glass”, glass “crystal” or “Aglitsky”. The floors were mostly made of planks, but sometimes they were paved with oak blocks in the form of bricks, painted in a checkerboard pattern in black and green. The epics also mention floors lined with metal tiles: “The floor is the middle of one silver.”

The rooms in the choir were divided into “resting”, “non-resting” (front) and service rooms. The ceremonial ones included:

- “povalusha”, which was the main hall;

- “gridnya” (“gridnitsa”) - a room for feasts of the prince and his retinue;

Canopies - of which there were many in the mansions. They could be front and rear. The front vestibule performed the same function as previously the gridnya. The princely throne was also located here;

- “upper room” - a room on the upper floors (“mountain” - high), intended for gala dinners, weddings, etc.;

- “svetlitsa” - a room with large windows in all four walls, found mainly in the female half.

The chambers were never adjacent to the front chambers; they were separated by vestibules and passages. The rest included:

Bedroom" ("bed", "bed mansion");

- “prayer” (“cross”);

Skotnitsa" - a room for storing the treasury;

- sennik” - a summer bedroom, which appeared, for example, in wedding ceremonies.

There was a special “female half” in the mansions.

Service premises:

Medusha" (in the Tale of Bygone Years "Princess Medusha" is mentioned);

In the basement there were also storerooms, barns, “soaphouses”, “cooking” (kitchens).

Artistic and figurative system in chorus

Mansions trace their origins back to an ancient dwelling, a peasant house. Consequently, in the main components - in ideological and figurative content, semantics, ensemble - the figurative systems of the two types of structures are united. But the artistic solution of the choir undoubtedly had its own characteristics. Today there are almost no visual examples left to recreate this artistic and figurative system. That is why folklore materials, and in particular epics, which give a figurative and poetic description in chorus, recreating precisely their figurative structure, acquire special value. Some archaeological finds of architectural details and furniture in the mansion can complement the picture.

In the external appearance of ancient mansions, for example, those of Novgorod, the architectural decoration was concentrated mainly on the upper part of the structure. In the mansions one can trace an ancient type of folk dwelling, directed in height and oriented towards interaction with the sky. In epics, towers are often called “golden-domed”, “painted”. The figured roofs, turrets, and chimneys were painted with herbal and zoomorphic patterns. The chimneys, in addition, were decorated with openwork carvings. All this was complemented by carved piers. The fiberglass windows did not stand out in any way. There is no evidence of the platbands of the slanted windows of the ancient mansion, but the drawings of the Kolomna Palace showed carved platbands.

Interior decoration the choir was distinguished by great pomp. The “outfit” of the choir was carpentry and “tent” (made of fabrics and furs). Mansions, like the hut, were built as a model of the world, the center of which was man. Perhaps the most obvious and striking example is the epic description by the choir of Plenko when Prince Vladimir came to him:

“.. the golden-domed ones lead to the chambers.

And so and so the prince marvels:

There is sun in the sky and there is sun in the mansion,

There is a month in the sky and a month in the palace,

There are stars in the sky and stars in the mansion,

There are dawns in the sky and dawns in the mansion;

Everything in the mansion is heavenly.” 3

Along with this, in each room the choir necessarily highlighted a semantic center - a red corner with icons. In the mansions of the 16th-17th centuries brick kilns were lined with tiles (“mural” stoves). The tiles were decorated with zoomorphic and plant motives. It can be assumed that the same motifs were present in the wall paintings. There is information that the walls and ceiling were covered with oak panels of panel construction, and the squares of the panels were covered with paintings or carvings. The walls could also be covered with cloth or furs. In one of the epics in Churila’s grid, “the ceilings are covered with black sables,” and the walls are covered with “gray-haired beaver.”

The emphasis on windows as a source of light, as a connection with the world, can be seen just as clearly in mansions as in a peasant dwelling. However, in mansions, windows in the interior are emphasized no less significantly than in the exterior.

3 Rybnikov P. N. Songs collected by P. N. Rybnikov. - M., type. A. Semenova, 1861. T. 1.45.

The epics mention “white oak” windows, and silver frames, and windows trimmed with fur and cloth, with turned gilded columns on the sides.

The ensemble of the interior was complemented by wooden furniture, which was richer in decor and more varied in purpose than in a peasant home. Even in ancient times, benches with carved backs and armchairs were specific pieces of furniture for a choir. As in the hut, in any room of the mansion there were always benches (painted or “covered” with patterned fabrics).

Summarizing the above, we can highlight the following features of the artistic-figurative system of the choir:

a) close relationship with the artistic and figurative system of the ancient peasant dwelling;

b) the desire to create in the artistic ensemble of the interior a figurative and poetic model of the real visible world (sun, stars, month, plants, animals);

c) the figurative-semantic functions of the “corners” of the hut pass in the mansions to

separate rooms, at the same time, each room has its own red corner with icons.

Outbuildings

The outbuildings included: barn, barn, threshing floor, barn, mill, bathhouse.

They were building in a farm yard or next to a field. barns- log buildings with a furnace for drying sheaves. They did not have a door, but only a hole for feeding sheaves inside. In the second half of the 19th century, barns were everywhere replaced by more advanced buildings - rigami. Ovin has been known since ancient times and had a cult significance in paganism.

For threshing grain it was built threshing floor, which was a long, elongated building with openings or gates for passage. It was often connected to a barn or barn.

Stored grain and other supplies in barns. Rows of barns, built outside the outskirts or along the river, formed an integral part of the architectural ensemble of the village. Barns were built by wealthy people, and great importance was attached to their architecture. These small log houses could be two-story, sometimes on stilts, and the roof could be decorated with piers.

From an architectural and artistic point of view, the most striking economic structures were wind turbines. mills. They were widespread back in Ancient Rus'. According to their design, mills were divided into pillar and tent mills. Stolbovye are more typical for the North of the European part. At the base of some northern mills there is a four-walled cage assembled “in a cut”. It contains a thick axial pillar on which the mill barn is located. The whole barn was turning with the wind. In the middle zone, in the south and west of the European part, hipped mills were common - majestic octagonal structures with a very flat hipped roof. When such mills operated, only the upper part with the roof rotated. They became especially widespread at the end of the 19th century.

Fortresses

In Ancient Rus' city was the name of a settlement surrounded by a tyn (wall). Fortress cities were built in Russia already in the 9th century. Until the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries, the fortresses were predominantly wooden. “Standing forts” were also erected at strategic lines, in which no one lived permanently, but in wartime garrisons were sent there. On the approaches to the city, on the heights, separate towers were erected - “vezhi” (from the word “to know”). Wooden fortresses were built not only around cities, but also around monasteries, with military defense in mind.

We can judge ancient Russian fortresses from the drawings of foreign artists of the 17th century (Olearius, Meyerberg, Herberstein), from archaeological excavations and from some buildings of the 17th century preserved in Siberia (Yakutsky fortress, Klimsky fortress, Belsky fortress, Bratsk fortress).

Main architectural element wooden fortresses had chopped towers, square, hexagonal or octagonal in plan, with a tent roof. The image of a hipped tower, filled with deep patriotic meaning in the popular consciousness, was introduced by folk craftsmen into religious architecture, first wooden, and then stone.

From time immemorial, the peasant hut made of logs has been considered a symbol of Russia. According to archaeologists, the first huts appeared in Rus' 2 thousand years ago BC. For many centuries, the architecture of wooden peasant houses remained virtually unchanged, combining everything that every family needed: a roof over their heads and a place where they can relax after a hard day of work.

In the 19th century, the most common plan for a Russian hut included a living space (hut), a canopy and a cage. The main room was the hut - a heated living space of a square or rectangular shape. The storage room was a cage, which was connected to the hut by a canopy. In turn, the canopy was a utility room. They were never heated, so they could only be used as living quarters in the summer. Among the poor segments of the population, a two-chamber hut layout, consisting of a hut and a vestibule, was common.

Ceilings in wooden houses were flat, they were often hemmed with painted plank. The floors were made of oak brick. The walls were decorated using red plank, while in rich houses the decoration was supplemented with red leather (less wealthy people usually used matting). In the 17th century, ceilings, vaults and walls began to be decorated with paintings. Benches were placed around the walls under each window, which were securely attached directly to the structure of the house itself. At approximately the level of human height, long wooden shelves called voronets were installed along the walls above the benches. Kitchen utensils were stored on shelves along the room, and tools for men's work were stored on others.

Initially, the windows in Russian huts were volokova, that is, observation windows that were cut into adjacent logs, half the log down and up. They looked like a small horizontal slit and were sometimes decorated with carvings. They closed the opening (“veiled”) using boards or fish bladders, leaving a small hole (“peeper”) in the center of the latch.

After some time, the so-called red windows, with frames framed by jambs, became popular. They had more complex design, rather than volokovye, and were always decorated. The height of the red windows was at least three times the diameter of the log in the log house.

In poor houses, the windows were so small that when they were closed, the room became very dark. In rich houses, windows from the outside were closed with iron shutters, often using pieces of mica instead of glass. From these pieces it was possible to create various ornaments, painting them with paints with images of grass, birds, flowers, etc.