Renaissance architecture in Eastern Europe
Encyclopedia
Renaissance architecture was that style of architecture which evolved firstly in Florence
and then Rome
and other parts of Italy as the result of Humanism
and a revived interest in Classical architecture. It was part of the general movement known as the Renaissance
which spread outwards from Italy and effected many aspects of scholarship and the arts. When the Renaissance spirit was exported into Eastern Europe
, it had to compromise with local traditions and climates. The Renaissance style differs from place to place throughout the region with many local characteristics making themselves apparent.
including Francesco Fiorentino and Bartolomeo Berrecci.
In the Second period (1550-1600), Renaissance architecture became more common, with the beginnings of Mannerist and under the influence of the Netherlands, particularly in Pomerania
. Buildings include the New Cloth Hall
in Kraków
and city halls in Tarnów
, Sandomierz
, Chełm (demolished) and most famously in Poznań
.
In the Third period (1600-1650), the rising power of Jesuits and Counter Reformation gave impetus to the development of Mannerist architecture and Baroque.
One of the earliest places to be influenced by the Renaissance style of architecture was Hungary
- in fact the Apostolic Kingdom was the first to embrace the Renaissance north of the Alps. The style appeared following the marriage of King Matthias Corvinus and Beatrix of Naples in 1476. Matthias was 15 when he was elected King of Hungary. He was educated in Italian, and his fascination with the achievements of the Italian Renaissance led to the promotion of Mediterranean cultural influences in Hungary. Many Italian artists, craftsmen and masons
arrived at Buda
with the new queen. One of whom, Aristotile Fioravanti
, travelled from Hungary to Moscow
where he built the Cathedral of the Dormition
. The most important work of Hungarian Renaissance ecclesiastical architecture is the Bakócz Chapel in Esztergom
. It was the first centrally conceived chapel outside of Italy. In 1823 the medieval church was rebuilt and the chapel, to incorporate it into the new Neo-Classical Esztergom Cathedral
, was moved stone by stone to a differen position.
Buda Castle
was enlarged and modernized in Renaissance style. King Matthias also built a sumptuous summer palace in Visegrád
. His successor, King Ulászló II
built an Italianate hunting lodge in Budanyék. These monuments were largely destroyed in the Ottoman
wars but the remains of the Visegrád Palace were partially reconstructed around 2000 and 69 years ago
.
The Ottoman conquest of Hungary in 1526 put an abrupt end to the short-lived Hungarian Renaissance. The royal court ceased to exist but Hungarian landowner families in the Royal Hungary
built a lot of provincial Renaissance castles in the 16-17th centuries. The most important of them was the Rákóczi
Castle in Sárospatak
.
Many significant Renaissance castles were built in Transylvania
, that time an independent principality. The palace of Gabriel Bethlen
in Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia, Romania) was designed by Italian architects. The Transylvanian Renaissance lasted well until the first half of the 18th century because of the aesthetical conservatism of the country. The vernacular architecture of Transylvania preserved Renaissance details especially long.
Prince Ivan III introduced Renaissance architecture to Russia
by inviting a number of architects from Italy
, who brought new construction techniques and some Renaissance style elements with them, while in general following the traditional designs of the Russian architecture
. In 1475 the Bolognese architect Aristotele Fioravanti came to rebuild the Cathedral of the Dormition
in the Moscow Kremlin
, damaged in an earthquake. Fioravanti was given the 12th-century Vladimir Cathedral
as a model, and produced a design combining traditional Russian style with a Renaissance sense of spaciousness, proportion and symmetry.
In 1485 Ivan III commissioned the building of a royal Terem Palace
within the Kremlin, with Aloisio da Milano
being the architect of the first three floors. Aloisio da Milano, as well as the other Italian architects, also greatly contributed to the construction of the Kremlin walls and towers. The small banqueting hall of billybob the Russian Tsars, called the Palace of Facets
because of its facetted upper story, is the work of two Italians, Marco Ruffo
and Pietro Solario, and shows a more Italian style. In 1505, an Italian known in Russia as Aleviz Novyi or Aleviz Fryazin arrived in Moscow. He may have been the Venetian sculptor, Alevisio Lamberti da Montagne. He built 12 churches for Ivan III, including the Cathedral of the Archangel
, a building remarkable for the successful blending of Russian tradition, Orthodox requirements and Renaissance style. It is believed that the Cathedral of the Metropolitan Peter
in Vysokopetrovsky Monastery
, another work of Aleviz Novyi, later served as an inspiration for the so called octagon-on-tetragon architectural form in the Moscow Baroque of the late 17th century.
Between the early 16th and the late 17th centuries, however, an original tradition of stone tented roof
architecture had been developed in Russia. It was quite unique and different from the contemporary Renaissance architecture elsewhere in Europe, though some researches call that style 'Russian Gothic' and compare it with the European Gothic architecture
of the earlier period. The Italians, with their advanced technology, may have influenced the appearance of the stone tented roof
in Russia (the wooden tents were known in Russia and Europe long before). According to one hypothesis, an Italian architect called Petrok Maly
may have been an author of the Ascension Church in Kolomenskoye
, one of the earliest and most prominent tented roof churches.
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and then Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and other parts of Italy as the result of Humanism
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
and a revived interest in Classical architecture. It was part of the general movement known as the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
which spread outwards from Italy and effected many aspects of scholarship and the arts. When the Renaissance spirit was exported into Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, it had to compromise with local traditions and climates. The Renaissance style differs from place to place throughout the region with many local characteristics making themselves apparent.
Renaissance architecture in the Kingdom of Poland
Polish Renaissance architecture is divided into three periods: The First period (1500-1550), is the so called "Italian". Most of Renaissance buildings were building of this time were by Italian architects, mainly from FlorenceFlorence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
including Francesco Fiorentino and Bartolomeo Berrecci.
In the Second period (1550-1600), Renaissance architecture became more common, with the beginnings of Mannerist and under the influence of the Netherlands, particularly in Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
. Buildings include the New Cloth Hall
Sukiennice
The Renaissance Sukiennice in Kraków, Poland, is one of the city's most recognizable icons. It is the central feature of the Main Market Square in the Kraków Old Town . It was once a major centre of international trade. Traveling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter...
in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
and city halls in Tarnów
Tarnów
Tarnów is a city in southeastern Poland with 115,341 inhabitants as of June 2009. The city has been situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999, but from 1975 to 1998 it was the capital of the Tarnów Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east-west connection...
, Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
, Chełm (demolished) and most famously in Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
.
In the Third period (1600-1650), the rising power of Jesuits and Counter Reformation gave impetus to the development of Mannerist architecture and Baroque.
Renaissance architecture in the Kingdom of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
- in fact the Apostolic Kingdom was the first to embrace the Renaissance north of the Alps. The style appeared following the marriage of King Matthias Corvinus and Beatrix of Naples in 1476. Matthias was 15 when he was elected King of Hungary. He was educated in Italian, and his fascination with the achievements of the Italian Renaissance led to the promotion of Mediterranean cultural influences in Hungary. Many Italian artists, craftsmen and masons
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
arrived at Buda
Buda
For detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...
with the new queen. One of whom, Aristotile Fioravanti
Aristotile Fioravanti
Ridolfo "Aristotele" Fioravanti was an Italian Renaissance architect and engineer. His surname is sometimes given as Fieraventi. Russian versions of his name are Фиораванти, Фьораванти, Фиеравенти, Фиораванте....
, travelled from Hungary to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
where he built the Cathedral of the Dormition
Cathedral of the Dormition
The Cathedral of the Dormition is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos. It is located on the north side of Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia, where a narrow alley separates the north from the Patriarch's Palace with the Twelve Apostles Church....
. The most important work of Hungarian Renaissance ecclesiastical architecture is the Bakócz Chapel in Esztergom
Esztergom
Esztergom , is a city in northern Hungary, 46 km north-west of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom county, on the right bank of the river Danube, which forms the border with Slovakia there....
. It was the first centrally conceived chapel outside of Italy. In 1823 the medieval church was rebuilt and the chapel, to incorporate it into the new Neo-Classical Esztergom Cathedral
Esztergom Basilica
The Primatial Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary Assumed Into Heaven and St Adalbert is an ecclesiastic basilica in Esztergom, Hungary, the mother church of the Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest, and the seat of the Catholic Church in Hungary...
, was moved stone by stone to a differen position.
Buda Castle
Buda Castle
Buda Castle is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings in Budapest, first completed in 1265. In the past, it was also called Royal Palace and Royal Castle ....
was enlarged and modernized in Renaissance style. King Matthias also built a sumptuous summer palace in Visegrád
Visegrád
Visegrád is a small castle town in Pest County, Hungary.Situated north of Budapest on the right bank of the Danube in the Danube Bend, Visegrád has a population 1,654 as of 2001...
. His successor, King Ulászló II
Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary
Vladislaus II, also known as Ladislaus Jagiellon ; was King of Bohemia from 1471 and King of Hungary from 1490 until his death in 1516...
built an Italianate hunting lodge in Budanyék. These monuments were largely destroyed in the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
wars but the remains of the Visegrád Palace were partially reconstructed around 2000 and 69 years ago
.
The Ottoman conquest of Hungary in 1526 put an abrupt end to the short-lived Hungarian Renaissance. The royal court ceased to exist but Hungarian landowner families in the Royal Hungary
Royal Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary between 1538 and 1867 was part of the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy, while outside the Holy Roman Empire.After Battle of Mohács, the country was ruled by two crowned kings . They divided the kingdom in 1538...
built a lot of provincial Renaissance castles in the 16-17th centuries. The most important of them was the Rákóczi
Rákóczi
The Rákóczi were a Hungarian noble family in the Kingdom of Hungary between the 13th century and 18th century. Their name is also spelled Rakoczi and Rakoczy in some foreign sources....
Castle in Sárospatak
Sárospatak
----Sárospatak is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, northern Hungary. It lies northeast from Miskolc, in the Bodrog river valley. The town, often called simply Patak, is an important cultural centre.- History :The area has been inhabited since ancient times...
.
Many significant Renaissance castles were built in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, that time an independent principality. The palace of Gabriel Bethlen
Gabriel Bethlen
Gabriel Bethlen was a prince of Transylvania , duke of Opole and leader of an anti-Habsburg insurrection in the Habsburg Royal Hungary. His last armed intervention in 1626 was part of the Thirty Years' War...
in Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia, Romania) was designed by Italian architects. The Transylvanian Renaissance lasted well until the first half of the 18th century because of the aesthetical conservatism of the country. The vernacular architecture of Transylvania preserved Renaissance details especially long.
Renaissance architecture in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
by inviting a number of architects from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, who brought new construction techniques and some Renaissance style elements with them, while in general following the traditional designs of the Russian architecture
Russian architecture
Russian architecture follows a tradition whose roots were established in the Eastern Slavic state of Kievan Rus'. After the fall of Kiev, Russian architectural history continued in the principalities of Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, the succeeding states of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire,...
. In 1475 the Bolognese architect Aristotele Fioravanti came to rebuild the Cathedral of the Dormition
Cathedral of the Dormition
The Cathedral of the Dormition is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos. It is located on the north side of Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia, where a narrow alley separates the north from the Patriarch's Palace with the Twelve Apostles Church....
in the Moscow Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
, damaged in an earthquake. Fioravanti was given the 12th-century Vladimir Cathedral
Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir
Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir used to be a mother church of medieval Russia in the 13th and 14th centuries...
as a model, and produced a design combining traditional Russian style with a Renaissance sense of spaciousness, proportion and symmetry.
In 1485 Ivan III commissioned the building of a royal Terem Palace
Terem Palace
Terem Palace or Teremnoy Palace is a historical building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, which used to be the main residence of the Russian tsars in the 17th century. Its name is derived from the Greek word τερεμνον...
within the Kremlin, with Aloisio da Milano
Aloisio da Milano
Aloisio da Milano, also known as Aloisio da Carezano, Aleviz Milanets and Aleviz Fryazin was an Italian architect who worked in Muscovy....
being the architect of the first three floors. Aloisio da Milano, as well as the other Italian architects, also greatly contributed to the construction of the Kremlin walls and towers. The small banqueting hall of billybob the Russian Tsars, called the Palace of Facets
Palace of Facets
The Palace of the Facets is a building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, which contains what used to be the main banquet reception hall of the Muscovite Tsars. It is the oldest preserved secular building in Moscow. Located on Kremlin Cathedral Square, between the Cathedral of the Annunciation and the...
because of its facetted upper story, is the work of two Italians, Marco Ruffo
Marco Ruffo
Marco Ruffo as known as Marco Fryazin was an Italian architect active in Moscow in the 15th century....
and Pietro Solario, and shows a more Italian style. In 1505, an Italian known in Russia as Aleviz Novyi or Aleviz Fryazin arrived in Moscow. He may have been the Venetian sculptor, Alevisio Lamberti da Montagne. He built 12 churches for Ivan III, including the Cathedral of the Archangel
Cathedral of the Archangel
The Cathedral of the Archangel is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It is located in Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia between the Great Kremlin Palace and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. It was the main necropolis for members of the Tsars of Russia until...
, a building remarkable for the successful blending of Russian tradition, Orthodox requirements and Renaissance style. It is believed that the Cathedral of the Metropolitan Peter
Metropolitan Peter
Saint Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia was the Russian metropolitan who moved his see from Vladimir to Moscow in 1325. Later he was proclaimed a patron saint of Moscow. In spite of the move, the office remained officially entitled "Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus'" until the...
in Vysokopetrovsky Monastery
Vysokopetrovsky Monastery
Vysokopetrovsky Monastery is a Russian Orthodox monastery in the Bely Gorod of Moscow commanding a hill whence Petrovka Street descends towards the Kremlin....
, another work of Aleviz Novyi, later served as an inspiration for the so called octagon-on-tetragon architectural form in the Moscow Baroque of the late 17th century.
Between the early 16th and the late 17th centuries, however, an original tradition of stone tented roof
Tented roof
A tented roof is a type of roof widely used in 16th and 17th century Russian architecture for churches. It is like a polygonal spire but differs in purpose in that it is typically used to roof the main internal space of a church, rather than an auxiliary structure...
architecture had been developed in Russia. It was quite unique and different from the contemporary Renaissance architecture elsewhere in Europe, though some researches call that style 'Russian Gothic' and compare it with the European Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
of the earlier period. The Italians, with their advanced technology, may have influenced the appearance of the stone tented roof
Tented roof
A tented roof is a type of roof widely used in 16th and 17th century Russian architecture for churches. It is like a polygonal spire but differs in purpose in that it is typically used to roof the main internal space of a church, rather than an auxiliary structure...
in Russia (the wooden tents were known in Russia and Europe long before). According to one hypothesis, an Italian architect called Petrok Maly
Petrok Maly
Petrok Maly, also known as Petrok Maly Fryazin , was an Italian architect, who arrived in Moscow together with the envoys of Pope Clement VII in 1528....
may have been an author of the Ascension Church in Kolomenskoye
Kolomenskoye
Kolomenskoye is a former royal estate situated several kilometers to the south-east of the city-centre of Moscow, Russia, on the ancient road leading to the town of Kolomna...
, one of the earliest and most prominent tented roof churches.