From Medieval Moscow to the Russian Revival

A history of Russia, and of Moscow especially, at times reads like a pyromaniac’s play. The city has been burned to varying degrees across its centuries of occupation, each fire a scalding brand of change. The Mongols burned the city in 1236 when invading and again in 1380 to retaliate against an uprising; the Crimean khan burned it in 1571 during the Russo-Crimean war; accidental fires destroyed many parts in 1626 and 1648; the city famously blazed for five days in 1812 to “welcome” Napoleon’s invading army; the city was again pummeled in World Wars I and II. And notably, Stalin opted to use the mechanical and ideological flames of wrecking balls and socialist cultural revolution when he destroyed so much of the city during his reign.

But though the material structures of Moscow have been repeatedly beaten to the ground, the form that these structures take—the architectural styles and aesthetic inspirations—advanced in spite of, and in fact often at the behest of, destructive forces both natural and manmade. What better time for an architect to let a building awaken—or reawaken—than in the wake of a fire?

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This exhibit will focus on and compare Russian architecture in two periods of time. The first period of time is medieval Russia, which can be defined to be from 980, the beginning of Vladimir I the Saint's reign over the principalities of Kievan Rus’, to 1584, the end of Ivan IV the Terrible’s rule over an integrated Russian state positioned around Muscovy. The second period of time is the Russian Revival period, which mostly took place in the last quarter of the 19th century, but whose influences can be documented as early as 1826.

Very broadly, these stylistic periods represent a Hegelian dialectic: from the thesis of a distinct Byzantine-influenced Russian style in the medieval period; to the antithesis of a number of deviant styles such as the gothic and baroque; to a synthesis found in the Russian Revival style, which was a modern but nostalgic interpretation of Byzantine style and pre-Peterine Russian design.

The first section will briefly summarize some of the stylistic features of each style. The next section will then contextualize these changes within broader trends in Russia's and Moscow's histories. The final section will provide a guided tour of some of the most well-known and typical structures from each period.