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ARCHITECTURAL
MONUMENTS
OF
FERAPONTOV
MONASTERY
T
h e c a t h e d r a l o f t h e N a t i v i t y o f t h e V i r g i n
was the first stone structure not only of Ferapontov monastery but of
the whole Lake Beloye area as well. Built in 1490, six years earlier
than the Kirillov cathedral of the Dormition, it has many features comm
to both monuments. Its inner arrangement with stepped arches supporting
the drum, the surmounting of the cubic volume o f the cathedral with three
tiers of «kokoshniki», each one having three «kokoshniki» on the facade, the
similarly placed ornamental friezes which included the same balusters and
ceramic plates with plant ornamen tation , the perspective portal with a keel
like apex carved from natural stone and many other common devices speak
of the closeness o f the architecture of the two monuments which could have
probably been even built by the same master.
Although their decorative devices are much alike, their arch itec tu ra l im
ages greatly differ. As opposed to the massive and rather squat cathedral of
the Dormition which is crowned by a huge stone drum and gives an imp re s
sion of gigantic might, the cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin has light
and elegant proportions emphasized by its position on a «podklet» and is
surmounted by a small graceful drum. The builders paid special a tten tion to
the west facade; they decorated it with an additional row o f ceramic plates
depicting fantastic animals above the socle and filled the whole surface of
the «zakomari» with patterned brickwork. The o ther facades were treated
much simpler. For instants, the decoration of the south and no rth portals
consists of several projections of brickwork as it was common for p r e -m o n
go! architecture. But even here builders o f the cathedral with very sparing
means, just by including ceramic balusters in the brickwork, gave the portals
that special elegance characteristic of the architecture o f the cathedral in
general. Ano ther distinguishing feature of the cathedral o f the Nativity of
the Virgin was the placing of a second, smaller drum with a cupola above
the south-east corner o f the edifice where the chapel of St. Nicho las was
located.
We do not know when exactly the cathedral was surrounded by stone
parvises, but by the middle of the XVI century they undoubtedly already
existed. They belong to a later period than the cathedral, for they were built
of a different kind o f brick and the painting on the west facade o f the c a t h e
dral was damaged during their construction. The parvis had two tiers from
the very beginning. The lower tier was blank, while the west and south sides
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