Vainakh Tower Architecture
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The Chechen tower architecture (; ), also called Nakh architecture, is a characteristic feature of ancient and medieval architecture of
Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...
and
Ingushetia Ingushetia or Ingushetiya, officially the Republic of Ingushetia, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. The republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land borders with the country o ...
.


History

The oldest fortifications in the
North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...
date from the 3rd millennium BC. The oldest remains of buildings with the characteristics of Nakh towers date from the 1st century AD, and can already be distinguished into residential and military types. Construction greatly increased in the 12th and 13th centuries. Nakh tower architecture and construction techniques reached their peak in the 15th–17th centuries.


General features

Typical Vainakh towers were built on a square base, ranging from 6 to 12 m wide and 10 to 25 m high, depending on the function. The walls were built of stone blocks, possibly with
lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...
,
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
-lime, or lime-
sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...
mortar. The walls were inclined inwards and their thickness decreased on higher floors. The towers were built on hard rock. Vainakh towers used to be sparingly decorated with religious or good-wishing
petrograph In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...
s, such as solar signs, depictions of the author’s hands, or animals. The construction of a tower, whether residential or military, was accompanied by rituals. Songs and folk tales emphasize the role of the "master builder", who, according to tradition, would direct a group of assistants who did the actual work. Some of these masters had their names preserved—such as Diskhi, associated in the local tradition to the military tower of Vougi, and Yand of the Ingush settlement Erzi. Chechen villages, such as Bavloi also specialized in tower building. Legends ascribe to the master builder the honourable and extremely dangerous task of erecting the ''tsIurku'' stone that topped the step pyramidal roof of a military tower. A ladder was tied to a
machicolation In architecture, a machicolation () is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key ...
on the outside for the master to reach the roof. It cost many masters their life. In case of success, the client gave the master a bull. The construction of a family tower cost the household 50 to 60 cows. Ivan Shcheblykin claimed that the tower builders did not need any scaffolding, and many researchers make that assumption. However, he may have meant that they used no scaffolding ''on the outside''. Cornerstones were included in the design, to join the walls together and to support the higher floors. Interior scaffolds used in erecting the walls probably rested on those cornerstones, in which corbels were made for the purpose. Stones and beams were lifted with a windlass known as ''chIagIarg'' or ''zerazak''. Large stones—some weighing several tons—were brought to the site by oxdriven sleds. The builders used many stonedressing tools—the ''berg'' (pick), the ''varzap'' (a large hammer), the ''jau'' (a small hammer), the ''daam'' (chisel), etc. Mortar was made on the site. Sand or clay was admixed to it in localities where lime was expensive. One of the master builder's most critical tasks was to estimate the proper amount of mortar to ensure the seismic resistance of the tower. Joints between stones were filled in with limewash for rain not to damage mortar.


Residential towers

Residential towers were family dwellings, which have been compared to structures seen in prehistoric mountain settlements dating back to 8000 BC. The classic residential tower is a massive building, two to four stories high, with tapering walls and a flat shale roof. The floorplan is usually rectangular, measuring 8–10 by 8–12 meters. The tower tapered due to the walls getting thinner to the top, and due to their inward inclination. The thickness of the walls varies in different structures from 1.2–0.9 m at the bottom to 0.7–0.5 m at the top. The walls were made of stones of varying sizes (blocks or slabs, depending on the local stone), carefully dressed on the outside, with lime or clay-lime mortar and chip stone. Dry
masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...
was seldom used. Large stone blocks, sometimes weighing several
ton Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...
s, were used in the foundation and the ground-floor walls. The towers had a central pillar, also of thoroughly dressed stone blocks, which supported the ceiling rafters. Purlines rested on pilasters or cornerstones, and common
rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as Beam (structure), steel beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof Roof shingle, shingles, ...
s, in their turn, rested on the purlines. The upper floors consisted of wood sticks resting on the rafters, coated with punned clay. The ground floor was paved with boards or stone slabs. Besides its structural function, the central pillar (''erd-bogIam'') had symbolic and religious significance in
Vainakh Vainakh or Vaynakh may refer to: * Vainakh peoples The Nakh peoples are a group of North Caucasian languages, North Caucasian peoples identified by their use of the Nakh languages and other cultural similarities. These are chiefly the ethnic C ...
culture, since ancient times. The two lower stories of a residential tower were intended for livestock. Cattle and horses were usually sheltered in the ground floor, part of which was fenced off for grain storage. Some towers had pits on the ground floor for that purpose, with stone-lined walls and bottom. In towers with four stories, the first floor above ground was typically used to shelter sheep and goats. It had a separate entrance, reached by a log ramp. The family lived in the second floor above ground (or in the first, in three-story towers). The family possessions—carpets, dishes, kitchen utensils, clothes, etc.—were kept there, in
tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...
-lined wooden chests or on wooden shelves along the walls. The older towers had no wardrobes; instead, clothes were hung on metal hooks. Other towers had niches on the walls for that purpose. There was usually an arrangement of weaponry on the wall above the master bed. It was a dire necessity in wartime, and mere tradition in peace.


Military towers

A majority of the military ("combat") towers in the Ingush and Chechen mountains functioned both as watchtowers and as signalling beacons. Some served as fortified guard posts, or as safe shelters for one or two families, which lived in nearby residential towers, against raids. In some places, such as at Mount Bekhaila, several towers were enclosed in a common wall to create a small fortress. Construction of military towers began in the 10th and 11th centuries, and peaked between the 14th and 17th centuries. Chechen and Ingush military towers are fairly similar, differing only in size and the construction time. Depending on their age, they differ also in the sophistication of construction techniques and stone dressing, and in the grace of form. Combat towers were generally taller but narrower than residential ones: 20–25 meters high or more,Lecha Ilyasov. ''The Diversity of the Chechen Culture: From Historical Roots to the Present.'' . with four of five floors and a square base 5–6 meters wide. They were built of dressed stone with lime or lime-sand mortar. They had blank walls, cut only by embrasures and observation slits, on the most vulnerable side. There were no wooden parts on the tower exterior lest besiegers put them on fire. Doors and windows were on the side hardest of access. In some cases it is hard to believe that the defenders themselves could enter the tower. The entrance door was on the second floor, accessed through a ladder. The defenders fired at the enemy through loopholes and the top of the tower had
machicolation In architecture, a machicolation () is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key ...
s–overhanging small balconies without a floor. Defensive towers were usually crowned with pyramid-shaped roofing built in steps and topping with a sharpened capstone. Beacon towers were erected on the top of cliffs to make them hard of access. The shape, size and site of a beacon was chosen so as to guarantee visual connection with the nearest beacons. Watchtowers were often built in strategic locations to control key bridges, roads and mountain passes. They were built near to a river, brook or spring, so that water could be brought into the tower through a concealed water duct. The ground floor ceiling of the later, 15th–17th century towers was a false vault, known as , with two intercrossing rows of reinforcing ribs. Special attention was paid to the dressing and finishing of the keystones at the top of doors and windows, called ''kurtulg'' ("proud stone"). They bore the name of the owner, and were frequently decorated with petroglyphs. Researchers differ in the functions of the various floors. Some assume that the ground floor was used for livestock, while others say it was a prison for captives. Actually it seems that the ground floor was filled in with stone and earth to reinforce the tower bottom against ramming. The classical combat tower was not intended to withstand long sieges. Tower defenders had only a small stock of food and extremely limited arsenals, be it arrows, stone missiles or powder and shot in later times. Due to their small size, a watchtower or a beacon could house four to six on outsentry duty. All combat tower stories were equipped for observation and fighting. Chechen and Ingush combat towers divide in three basic groups according to the type of roof: * Flat roof towers * Flat roof towers crenellated on the corners * Step pyramidal roof towers


Mixed function towers

In the 13th–14th centuries, increased danger of aggression in certain parts of the Ingush and Chechen mountains let to the reinforcement of residential towers. The result were buildings that combined the functions of residential and defensive towers; they were smaller in size than the former, but a bit wider than the latter. Like the military towers, they had loopholes and ''machicolations'' ( mâchicoulis). These mixed-function towers are rare in the Chechen highland, probably because tower complexes and castles had become widespread by the time this concept appeared. Whereas a tower had space for only a few cows and horses, a castle could give shelter to the entire livestock in wartime.Марковин В.И. Памятники зодчества в горной Чечне. (по материалам исследований 1957–1965 гг.) // Северный Кавказ в древности и средние века. М., 1980. С.184–270.


See also

* Ingush towers *
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a in Georgia:
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* Himalayan Towers


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vainakh Medieval Towers Medieval architecture Nakh culture Nakh peoples