Architect responds to critics seeing "Russianness" in Pochaiv cathedral

The Transfiguration Cathedral of the Pochaiv Lavra. Photo: V. Novgorodov’s Facebook

Kharkiv architect Volodymyr Novgorodov explained how, in 2009, he and his team designed and created the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Pochaiv Lavra. In response to critics on his Facebook page who are seeking "signs of Russianness" in the cathedral ensemble, he stated that these attempts are "due only to a poor understanding of one's own national heritage".

"Recently, several critical publications have appeared concerning the Transfiguration Cathedral built in the Pochaiv Lavra. I don’t know if the opinion of the cathedral's author will be of interest to previous and subsequent critics, but I can’t help expressing it because I see that there are already many 'specialists' on 'Russian monsters'," said Volodymyr Novgorodov.

The architect reported that in 2009, the Pochaiv Lavra, together with the National Union of Architects of Ukraine, announced an all-Ukrainian open competition for the design of the new Transfiguration Cathedral.

"The need for a new cathedral was very great because the flow of pilgrims and tourists coming to the Lavra reached 7,000 people a day, and the old cathedrals, the Assumption and Trinity Cathedrals, were no longer able to accommodate everyone," the message says.

He mentioned that 34 architectural projects from various cities in Ukraine were submitted to the competition. The jury consisted of leading Ukrainian architects and the abbot of the Pochaiv Lavra, totalling 12 people.

After a two-day review, the jury declared the project authored by him and a group of co-authors – Kharkiv architects from the design and restoration department of the "UkrNIIGorstroyproject" institute – as the winner. The members of this group had previously worked on the restoration of famous Ukrainian churches, from the 17th to the 20th centuries, as well as on several new churches.

The architect shared that the main ideas for the project were drawn from Ukrainian church architecture, reflected, for example, in the 17th-century Trinity Cathedral in Chernihiv, the Nativity of the Mother of God Cathedral in Kozelets and others.

"But as a response to another Ukrainian tradition, additionally 4 domes were placed on the sides of the world above the branches of the cross part of the temple. Therefore, it is not some far-fetched presidency of Moscow, but the figurative reproduction by architectural means in a purely European spirit of the triumph of the event and the bright light miracle of the transformation of man into God and God into man. That is what is the main thing here," he explained.

According to Novgorodov, Ukrainian architecture is more diverse and has deeper typological and stylistic roots than some might think.

"Attempts to find manifestations of Russianness in this case are due only to a poor understanding of one's own national heritage," he emphasized. "Therefore, before labelling things right and left, one needs to study the essence of architectural processes and conduct a serious analysis. And one should trust more those specialists who chose this cathedral project from the 34 presented in the competition."

The full response from the architect to the critics of the Transfiguration Cathedral can be found on his Facebook page.

As reported by the UOJ, the Pochaiv Lavra has refuted media fakes about violations in the Assumption Cathedral.

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