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The dome is a rather complex form in terms of engineering. In Islamic countries there even was a separate specialty - the dome designer. Russian architects built multi-domed cathedrals since the adoption of Christianity which led some historians to speculate how Russian Pagan temples might have looked like. The richness of forms in Russian architecture is also reflected by the different number of domes. This number is symbolic: 1 dome symbolizes God, 3 - the Holy Trinity, 5 - Jesus and Four Evangelists, 7 - the Seven Mysteries of the Church, 9 - the number of Angelical Ranks, 13 - Jesus and the Twelve Apostles. The maximum canonical number is 33 (Jesus' age). The dome's form is also symbolic - the helmet-type dome symbolizes war of the forces of good with the forces of evil, while the onion-dome symbolizes burning candle. Colours stand for the following: golden - the heavenly glory (traditionally used in churches dedicated to Jesus and the Twelve Feasts), blue domes with stars - Virgin Mary (the star symbolizes the Nativity), green - the Holy Trinity (green is the colour of the Holy Spirit), churches dedicated to saints were also topped by green (and silver) domes.

The tented roof is a special type of roof, widely used in the XVIth and XVIIth century Russian architecture for churches and bell-towers. It is either a conical (actually polygonal) roof made of wood, where wood logs are located along the sides of the roof, which makes the roof high, thin and rather pointed; or a roof of similar shape (thin, pointed, nearly conical), made of brick or stone. These types of churches are typically Russian and are never found in other Eastern Orthodox countries (the closest Orthodox relatives are found in the Carpathians Region, Romania and South Caucasus). Tented roofs are thought to have originated in the Russian North, as they prevented snow from piling up on wooden buildings during long winters. In wooden churches (even modern ones) this type of roof is still very popular. The first ever tent-like church built in brick is the Ascension church in Kolomenskoye, designed to commemorate the birth of Ivan the Terrible. Its design was prone to most unusual interpretations. Some scholars, for example, view tented roofs of this variety as phallic symbols. It's more likely, however, that this type of design symbolized high ambitions of the nascent Russian state and liberation of the Russian art from Byzantine canons after the fall of Constantinople. Tented churches were exceedingly popular during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. In the XVIIth century tented roofs were placed in a row, sometimes producing astonishing decorative effects. They also became a typical architectural solution for church bell-towers. In the Nativity Church in Putinki (Moscow) this trend was pushed to its limit, as there are five major and three minor tents used in the construction. It is said that Patriarch Nikon, who often passed near Putinki church on his way to the Trinity, considered the monument to be in violation of canonical rules of Byzantine architecture and proscribed building tented churches altogether. During his time at office, many beautiful tented churches were demolished, notably the ones in Staritsa and the Moscow Kremlin. Only in the late XIXth century was the ban lifted, and the tented roof design was revived in such remarkable monuments as the Church of the Savior on Blood in St Petersburg and the Sts Peter and Paul's Cathedral in Novy Petergov.

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