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 Note №0:  All the notes are merely opinions of the section's manager. 

 Note №1:  True Orthodox architecture reaches perfection in modesty. Because God doesn't need opulence. He doesn't really need something like St Basil's cathedral to be build in His honour - but rather our souls to be like that (happy and child-like). In Russian architecture this idea best embodied by Novgorod and Pskov schools and the Old Rus' Revival style. When looking at these churches one might think that Russians had no money to build something more impressive - however, Novgorod Republic was very wealthy and advanced for it's time - for example, the whole city was literate almost entirely. But Orthodox architecture works on another level. Humans can only reach perfection in simplicity. But perfection is subjective. In case of Orthodox architecture we have a religious philosophy - when you study it you begin to understand the beauty of Orthodox architecture - so it's conceptual beauty we're talking about. But not necessarily - if these churches resonate with your psychological type you can get them without studying the Orthodox philosophy. 

 Note №2:  We rarely know the names of Russian architects because according to the Church, successful religious art is created by an Angel who guides the artist through his work. Except the names of foreign architects - arrival of whom is mentioned in written sources as a note-worthy for bureaucratic reasons. 

 Note №3:  A zenith of architectural tradition is reached when a style is developed to the point of perfection (from the point of view of that tradition's philosophy). When that happens, an architect does not need to be creative to design a masterpiece - instead, he needs to be highly intelligent. There were few styles like that in history (Ancient Greek and Armenian). In Russian architecture there always was too much creativity so it never reached its zenith. But in terms of creativity and diversity of forms we can estimate the architectural weight of the Russian nation as medium (for comparison - very few nations have high architectural weight (Iran and India might be the only two)). 

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Related Pages:

Introduction to Russian Architecture

A unique architectural tradition that is different from the West and the East.