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Sophia Cathedral
The Ascension Cathedral in the town of Sophia (now a part of Pushkin) in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg, was one of the first purely Palladian churches to be built in Russia. Rather paradoxically, it may also be defined as "the first example of Byzantinism in Russian architecture".Anthony Cross. ''By the Banks of the Neva''. Cambridge University Press, 1996. . Page 292. History Construction. Architecture The cathedral was founded in July 1782 at the instigation of Catherine II of Russia as a reminder of her lifelong Greek Plan. The Tsarina, eager to liberate Constantinople from the Turks, wished to have a replica of the Hagia Sophia in the proximity of the Catherine Palace where she spent her summers. But the first project - an exact copy of the Hagia Sophia - was very expensive. Then the Empress called upon her favourite architect, Charles Cameron, to design this "Byzantinesque" church, but the Scottish architect, though well versed in the Palladian idiom, had a v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pushkin (town)
Pushkin () is a municipal town in Pushkinsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located south from the center of St. Petersburg proper, and its railway station, Tsarskoye Selo, is directly connected by railway to the Vitebsky Rail Terminal of the city. Pushkin was founded in 1710 as an imperial residence named ''Tsarskoye Selo'' () and received status of a town in 1808. The first public railways in Russia, Tsarskoye Selo Railways, were opened here in 1837 and connected the town to the capital, St. Petersburg. After the October Revolution, the town was renamed to ''Detskoye Selo'' (). Its name was further changed in 1937 to Pushkin to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. The town contains an ensemble of the 18th century Tsarskoye Selo. This museum complex includes the Catherine Palace, Alexander Palace and other buildings and associated parks; it is a major tourist attraction in the area and is in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Plan
The Greek Plan or Greek Project (), an early proposed solution to the Eastern question, was advanced by the Russian empress Catherine the Great in the early 1780s. It envisaged the partition of the Ottoman Empire between the Russian and Habsburg Empires followed by the restoration of the Eastern Roman Empire centered in Constantinople. Outline Like her predecessors, Catherine concerned herself with the Orthodox Christians under Ottoman rule; she sponsored the Orlov Revolt in the Morea during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, and invited many Greeks like Ioannis Varvakis to settle in Russia, mainly in Crimea and New Russia. She conceived that one of her grandsons, born in 1779 and appropriately named Constantine, would become the first emperor of the restored Byzantium. Another important consideration was Russia's goal of free access (especially for the Imperial Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet, founded in 1783) to the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosphorus, which th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kokand
Kokand ( ) is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southwestern edge of the Fergana Valley. Administratively, Kokand is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Muqimiy. The population of Kokand was approximately 259,700. The city lies southeast of Tashkent, west of Andijan, and west of Fergana. It is nicknamed "City of Winds". Kokand is at the crossroads of the two main ancient trade routes into the Fergana Valley, one leading northwest over the mountains to Tashkent, and the other west through Khujand. As a result, Kokand is the main transportation junction in the Fergana Valley. Etymology The city's name is in conformity with other Central Asian cities that sport the element ''kand/kent/qand/jand'', meaning "a city" in Sogdian as well as other Iranic languages. The Khwarazmian version was ''kath'', which is still found in the name of the old city of Akhsikath/ Akhsikat in the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan. The prefix ''khu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikhail Chernyayev
Mikhail Grigoryevich Chernyaev ( Russian: Михаил Григорьевич Черняев) (3 November / 22 October 1828 in Bender, Bessarabia Governorate – 16 August 1898) was a Russian major general, who, together with Konstantin Kaufman and Mikhail Skobelev, directed the Russian conquest of Central Asia during the reign of Tsar Alexander II. Life Mikhail Chernyaev was born in 1828 in Bender, in the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire. He belonged to a Russian noble family descended from Novgorodian boyars. His father was Grigory Nikitich Chernyaev (1787 – 1868), an officer, a participant of the Battle on Borodino. His father was a commandant of a number of French towns after the defeat of Napoleon. During 1841, he was appointed the city governor of Berdiansk. He was educated at the Nicholas Staff College, enlisted in the army in 1847, and distinguished himself in the Crimean War and in the Caucasus Mountains region. After serving as divisional Chi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leib Guard
The Russian Imperial Guard, officially known as the Leib Guard ( ''Leyb-gvardiya'', from German language, German ''Leib'' "body"; cf. Lifeguard (military), Life Guards / Bodyguard), were combined Imperial Russian Army forces units serving as counterintelligence for preventing sabotage of important imperial palaces, personal guards of the Emperor of Russia and the House of Romanov, Russian imperial family, public security in the capital and leaders in spearheading attacks on the battlefield. Peter I of Russia, Peter I founded the first such units in 1683 to replace the politically-motivated Streltsy. The Imperial Guard subsequently increased in size and diversity to become an elite corps of all branches within the Imperial Russian Army, rather than household troops in direct attendance on the Tsar. Numerous links were however maintained with the imperial family, and the bulk of the Imperial Guard's regiments were stationed in and around the capital, Saint Petersburg, in peacetime. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hussar
A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry regiments in European armies during the late 17th and 18th centuries. By the 19th century, hussars were wearing jackets decorated with braid plus shako or Busby (military headdress), busby fur hats and had developed a romanticized image of being dashing and adventurous. Several modern armies retain the designation of hussars for Armored unit, armored (tank) units. In addition, a number of mounted units survive which wear historical hussar uniforms on parade or while providing Bodyguard, ceremonial escorts. Historically, the term derives from the cavalry of late medieval Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526), Hungary, under Matthias Corvinus, with mainly Serb warriors. Etymology Etymologists are divided over the derivation of the word ''huss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander I Of Russia
Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic period of the Napoleonic Wars. The eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, Alexander succeeded to the throne after his father was murdered. As prince and during the early years of his reign, he often used liberal rhetoric but continued Russian absolutism, Russia's absolutist policies in practice. In the first years of his reign, he initiated some minor social reforms and (in 1803–04) major liberal educational reforms, such as building more universities. Alexander appointed Mikhail Speransky, the son of a village priest, as one of his closest advisors. The over-centralized Collegium (ministry), Collegium ministries were abolished and replaced by the Committee of Ministers of the Russian Empire, Committee of Ministers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of Saint Vladimir
The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine the Great, Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus'. Grades The order had four degrees and was awarded for continuous civil and military service. People who had been awarded with the St. Vladimir Order for military merits bore it with a special fold on the ribbon – "with a bow". There was a certain hierarchy of Russian Orders. According to this, the First Class Order of Saint Vladimir was the second one—the first was the Saint George Order—by its significance. According to Russian laws on nobility, people who were awarded the Order of Saint Vladimir had the rights of hereditary nobility until the Emperor's decree of 1900 was issued. After this, only three first classes of the order gave such a right, the last one granting only personal nobility. Today, Grand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial Academy Of Arts
The Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov, the founder of the Imperial Moscow University, under the name ''Academy of the Three Noblest Arts''. Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned a new building, completed 25 years later in 1789 by the Neva River. The academy promoted the neoclassical style and technique, and sent its promising students to European capitals for further study. Training at the academy was virtually required for artists to make successful careers. Formally abolished in 1918 after the Russian Revolution, the academy was renamed several times. It established free tuition; students from across the country competed fiercely for its few places annually. In 1947 the national institution was moved to Moscow, and much of its art collection was moved to the Hermitage. The building in Leningrad was devoted to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hagia Eirene
Hagia Irene () or Hagia Eirene ( , "Holy Peace", ), sometimes known also as Saint Irene, is a former Eastern Orthodox church located in the outer courtyard of Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. It is the oldest known church structure in the city and one of the only Byzantine churches in Istanbul that was never converted into a mosque, alongside the Church of Saint Mary of the Mongols, as it was used as an arsenal for storing weapons until the 19th century. The Hagia Irene now operates as a museum and concert hall. Naming The church was dedicated to the peace of God, and is one of the three shrines which emperors devoted to God's attributes, together with Hagia Sophia (Wisdom) and Hagia Dynamis.Janin, pg. 106 Introduction Origins The building reputedly stands on the site of a pre-Christian temple. It ranks as the first church completed in Constantinople, before Hagia Sophia, during its transformation from a Greek trading colony to the eastern capital of the Roman Empire. According ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl Of Burlington
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork (25 April 1694 – 4 December 1753) was a British architect and noble often called the "Apollo of the Arts" and the "Architect Earl". The son of the 2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Earl of Cork, Burlington never took more than a passing interest in politics despite his position as a Privy Counsellor and a member of both the British House of Lords and the Irish House of Lords. His great interests in life were architecture and landscaping, and he is remembered for being a builder and a patron of architects, craftsmen and landscapers, Indeed, he is credited with bringing Palladian architecture to Britain and Ireland. His major projects include Burlington House, Westminster School, Chiswick House and Northwick Park. Life Lord Burlington was born in Yorkshire into a wealthy Anglo-Irish aristocratic family, the only son of Charles Boyle, 2nd Earl of Burlington and his wife, Juliana Boyle ( Noel; 1672–1750). He succe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine Architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great established a new Roman capital in Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the Fall of Constantinople, fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. There was initially no hard line between the Byzantine and Roman Empires, and early Byzantine architecture is stylistically and structurally indistinguishable from late Roman architecture. The style continued to be based on arches, vaults and domes, often on a large scale. Wall mosaics with gold backgrounds became standard for the grandest buildings, with frescos a cheaper alternative. The richest interiors were finished with thin plates of marble or coloured and patterned stone. Some of the columns were also made of marble. Other widely used materials were bricks and stone. Mosaics made of stone or glass tesserae were also elements of interior architecture. Precious wood furniture, like be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
