A Wooden Church of the Twelfth Century in Podil, ,

Volodymyr Zotsenko

Parts of an ancient street block dating back to the last quarter of the eleventh century and early twelfth century were investigated in a foundation pit for a new building in Kyiv, Ukraine, (3/7 Mezhyhirska-Khoryva, Str., in the Podil district of Kyiv, i.e. the Lower Town ) in the course of archaeological excavations conducted in 2003. Among the structures discovered on the street block were a previously unknown wooden church dated back to the twelfth century, and several domestic buildings and related features of the street block. Surviving chronicles from the Kyivan Rus’ period contained no references to this church.

Archaeologists first became aware of this archaeological site in 1972, when a new underground subway line (Metro) was extended across the Podil or Lower Town district of Kyiv and the Metro Station “Chervona (Kontraktova) Square” was constructed between Geroyiv Trypillya (now Spaska) Street and Khoriva Street. The stratigraphy of the excavation in 1972 was characterized by thick alluvial and diluvial deposits containing ceramic sherds (dated back to the tenth century and the beginning of the eleventh century) at a depth of 8-9 meters below the present surface (absolute altitude: 103.00 Baltic Altitude Scale - BAS). Five log buildings of one messuage (urban houselot) were located under the deposit at a depth of 9.40 m (93.6 BAS), 10.28 m (92.72 BAS) and 10.78 m (92.22 BAS). Excavation covered only a part of the messuage located at a street corner. One of the streets went along the Pochayna-Dnipro River (general axis: north-south) and was 6 m wide; another one went from Zamkova Hora (Hill) to the Dnipro River (general axis: west-east) and was about 3 m wide. The log buildings of the messuage were located along the streets, limited by fences. The fences were built from vertically-set, closely-spaced oak planks 16-20 cm wide and up to 5 cm thick with pointed ends. The fence along the south-east side of the messuage (from Zamkova Hora to the Dnipro River) was exposed for a distance of 27 m (fig.1).

The profiles of the course of a tributary of the Pochayna River were discovered at 15-20 m from the houselot towards the north-west. They were traced along the south-east and north-west walls of the Metro foundation pit at the levels of 2.7-2.6 m with the upper part up to 60 m wide. At the level of the construction horizons of the messuages excavated in 1972, the upper mark of this channel was at a point 8.7 m from the present surface; at that stage it measured 10 m wide and 3 m deep. Based on the general stratigraphical and landscape nature of the earliest horizons of the investigated area, this part of the Podil settlement area was defined by downward surface deviation towards the north- west from the present Spaska Street axis to the Verkhniy Val street axis. The average deviation of the ground surface from the south-east (Kontraktovyi House on Spaska Street) to the north-west

3413 (Мetro station exit “Kontraktova Square” towards Verkhniy Val Street on the left bank of the fixed river course) measured up to 4 m (Sahaydak, 1991, pp. 58-59, 60-61, 63-64, figs. 34, 35).

Fig. 1 Plane of farmstead in Site II, Square 2, 1972

The excavations of 2003 were located approximately 22-25 m to the north-east along the narrower street excavated in 1972. According to a modern map of the city, the excavation was located at Khoryva-Mezhyhirska Streets crossing on a south-east to north-west axis from Spaska to Khoryva Streets. The south-west part of the new construction foundation pit bounded the Metro tunnel (Metro station “Kontraktova Square”); the north-west part bordered on Khoryva Street (fig.2). The excavations were carried out at the depth of 100.61-97.06 BAS, that is at a level 6.8-3.5 m higher than the first construction horizon investigated during the 1972 excavations. According to Sagaydak, the above figures correspond to the second cultural layer of this particular Podil area, deposited at a depth from 2 m to 6 m below the present surface. This layer is characterized by relatively thick alluvial and diluvial deposits of yellow-gray sand with clay inclusions followed by cultural layers. As to the chronology, it can be dated back to the last quarter of eleventh – third quarter of twelfth centuries (Sagaydak 2001, p.60-61).

The total excavated area covered 450 m² and was divided into two sections. The first section was located in the north-west part of the foundation pit and made up more than 250 m2. It bordered to the east on the old street (fig.3). Rus’ artifacts and features were excavated at a depth of 100.61- 94.53 BAS, or 1.96-4.53 m below the present surface. In geomorphological terms, these alluvial

3414 and diluvial deposits were the result of increased seismic activity in the area over a period of more than three centuries (late ninth to early twelfth centuries), combined with frequent flooding of the Dnipro River and erosion of the hills above the riverside terrace on which the Podil settlement was located. The result was the deposition of more than 12 meters of alluvial and diluvial deposits over the settled portions of Podil, resulting in 14 separate episodes of destruction and reconstruction due to partial or total flooding and covering of the built-up portions of the terrace with up to one meter of sand and clay deposits per episode between the ninth and twelfth centuries (Sagaydak, M., 2004, p. 4).

Fig. 2 Excavation plan of 2003

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Fig. 3 General plan of sites in Square 1, 2003

The wooden church discovered on this site is the earliest church structure in the history of archaeological investigations of Kyivan Rus’. On the east it was bordered by the fence line that defined the western part of the old street (3.3 m wide), while its south wall was partially outside the foundation pit. In addition to the church, several additional structures were discovered in this area. The remains of a framed building (4.5 x 4.0 m) that was oriented to the compass points were excavated in the western part of the foundation pit, near the north-west corner at a distance of 0.5 – 2 m from its western wall. The northern part of this structure was damaged by later excavations. The walls of this building were made of horizontal planks (20 cm wide) that were preserved in the form of a wood stain; a row of logs was discovered beneath this set 10 cm into the ground. Wooden logs in very poor condition were investigated near the south-west wall, closer to the western corner, at the floor level; the first log (1.25 x 0.3 m in size) had an oval hole (30 x 10 cm) on one end; the second one had a channel cut out measuring 1.05 x 0.15 m. These logs possibly represented the doorway of a building. A post hole (35 cm deep) was observed in the south corner and a rectangular pit (25 x 15 cm in size) was excavated in the western corner. A sand floor was found at the level of 2.12 m from the present surface. The building was filled with light-grey humus containing ceramic sherds dated back to the middle of the eleventh – first quarter of the twelfth centuries. Based on the artifacts available, the building’s function can be defined as a “komora”, or a storage building or outbuilding of some sort. Another building that performed a similar function and was defined by an oval pit (2.63 x 1.30 m) was excavated at a distance of 2 m from the church wall towards the north at a depth of 98.81 BAS. The pit did not appear to perform any construction functions. Its filling consisted of coloured sandy soil with the inclusions of humus, ceramic sherds, and animal bones. The row of logs associated with the structure are dated back to the twelfth century. Based on this, it is assumed that the pit performed the function of a cesspool.

3416 The investigation of the second section covered the north and north-east parts of the foundation pit at a distance of 18-22 m northwards from the north-west border of the previous section (fig.4). Similar to Square I, the eastern border of the investigated area was represented by the above mentioned street. The total investigated area is 200 m2. Old Rus’ cultural layers were observed at a depth of 97.75 – 97.05 BAS (this corresponded to 4.15 - 4.85 m below the present surface). The remains of three messuages located along the old street were excavated on this section of the site. Two of the messuages were divided by a fence that ran perpendicular to the street.

Fig. 4 General plan of sites in Square II, 2003

Building № 3 can be considered the central one among the other buildings of the messuages. It was a part of the northeast homestead “B” and was located in the northern part of the foundation pit; its western wall was adjacent to the fence along the eastern part of the street. It was a log house measuring 5 m x 5 m in size and with the logs’ ends extending beyond the joint up to 25-44 cm. The log walls were oriented to the compass points. Only the lower row of pine logs (22-36 cm in diameter) was preserved. Single-plank flooring 8 cm wide was found extending to a distance of 20- 30 cm out from the external perimeter of the log house. The remains of a rectangular clay stove built into a wooden frame (1.4 x 1.0 m in size) were discovered in the center of the building. The remains of the frame were fixed into four corner posts (8 cm in diameter). A large amount of woody coal and ferrous slag was excavated at the eastern side of the stove frame. A rectangular construction (0.6 m x 1.0 m in size) built of hewn planks (15 cm thick) and also filled with woody coal and ferrous slag was investigated near the south corner of the frame. Based on the location of this feature almost in the middle of the building and the presence of woody coal and ferrous slag, one can assume that building № 3 could have performed the production function of a smithy.

3417 The adjoining messuage C was separated from messuage B by a fence. The remains of the fence that went from the eastern side of the street towards the north-east were excavated in the form of wood stain (7 m long) at the level of 4.15 m (joining with the fence that marked the street) and at the level of 4.36 m (at the excavation border). Unfortunately, no other buildings were excavated on the investigated section of homestead C. However, a big pit (5.5 m in diameter and 0.5 m deep) was partially investigated near the south-east wall of the excavation at a distance of 2.5 m from the street fence at the levels of 4.26 m-4.29 m; the hole was filled with planks of different sizes (from 0.8 m to 2.0 m), chaotically placed and in a very poor state of preservation. Traces of a rectangular post (0.6 m x 0.8 m) were observed in the middle of the feature at the level of 4.66 m. The presence of the post hole and heap of planks suggest the existence of a roof that was supported by a central bearing post.

The filled cellars of three buildings were excavated in the messuage adjacent to the street from the west (homestead A). Two buildings (№1 and №2) belonged to the upper construction horizon and were discovered at a depth of 97.56 BAS or at 4.85 m below the present surface; the third building (№4) belonged to the earlier (second) horizon that was observed at a depth of 97.06 BAS or at 5.0 m below the present surface. As to their construction, these were log houses made of pine logs using round-notching (“v oblo”) technology with the log ends extending beyond the joint. The buildings of the first horizon as well as building № 3 of messuage B were located by their east walls very close to the street fence and were oriented by their corners to the compass points. Building № 2 was 4.4 m x 4.4 m in size and had the remains of a clay oven (with a hearth 1.2 m in diameter) in the north-east corner. The building was made of logs (20 cm in diameter) and was represented by one surviving course of logs. The fill inside the building consisted of large amounts of burnt wood, ceiling, roof, etc. Based on the artifacts recovered and physical evidence, it was a dwelling house. Another log structure of messuage A (№ 1 according to field numeration), was located 1.5 m northwards. It was 2.9 m x 4.4 m in size with logs 20 cm in diameter, and was also represented by one surviving course of logs. The long axis of the building was oriented along the old street. The remnants of a wooden trough discovered in the south corner and the imprints of five buckets on the clay floor in the northern part suggest that the building performed the function of a cattle-shed. A plank (80 cm x 20 cm in size, 4.5 cm thick) was discovered outside the south-west wall at a distance of 0.9 m from the south and east corners; it could have been a base of a threshold or rynda. Decking made of three closely-spaced planks of the same length (2.8 m long and 36, 26, 24 cm wide respectively) was discovered very close to the south-east corner of the wall, covering the ground between the fence and the cattle-shed.

The building investigated at the second horizon of the homestead was of an earlier period than the structure № 1. However, the building plan was slightly deviated towards the north-west and the main part of the building was found outside the excavation area. Based on the stratigraphy and typology of the artifacts discovered on Square II during the excavations in 2003, all the objects of

3418 the three messuages can be dated back to the first quarter – middle of the twelfth century. All of the structures found in the first and second construction horizons had been destroyed by fire.

It is clear that the street from Zamkova Hora to the Pochayna and Dnipro Rivers explored in 1972 formed an important feature of the city plan. The street has been investigated across two squares for more than 20 m in the course of excavations in 2003. It was fixed from the point 99.85 BAS (2.72 m from present surface) in the Square 1 and from the point 97.71 BAS (4.19 m from present surface) in the Square 2, and was oriented from south to north with average deviation of 40-42º to the west. The street was limited by lines of fences from the east side and the west side. The fences were represented by remnants of wood stains from planks or half-timbers. Their remnants were traced on three stratigraphic levels: to the point 99.61 BAS (5.29 m from present surface) with some deviations (of 10 cm in average) of each fence as compared to the fence of the upper horizon (99.85). The street between the fences was 3.0 m to 3.3 m wide. The surface of the street was represented by a light humus loam with clay fractions of a high density. This density of soil is explained by rolling the surface with wheels and runners of transport vehicles. The traces of wheel transport in the form of wheel tracks of different size (5 to 10 cm wide and up to 10 cm in depth) were observed in different squares. A print of a leather shoe bottom was discovered (97.58 BAS /4.32 m below the surface) in one of the areas of the northern square of the street. The print was overlain by a diluvial deposit. Thus, a shoe was lost when there was rather high water because of a flood (figs.5, 6).

Fig. 5 General arrangements of the street

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Fig. 6 Section of the street with a shoe print

A large building (12.35 m x 8.90 m) – the wooden church - whose remains survived to the height of three to five pine log courses, became the main feature of the site. The diameter of the logs reached 35 cm. The log structure was erected with round-notched (v oblo) joints with log ends extending up to 20 cm beyond the joints. Two ground sills were set into a foundation trench. The wood stain representing the ground sills contained the marks of carbonization; thus, the structure was destroyed by fire and was not renewed from that time. The level of the object was at 100.35 BAS (2.22 m from the present surface) in its north-west corner and at 99.67 (2.90 m below the present surface) in the eastern wall of its apse. The building was oriented to the cardinal points (along an east-west line) with deviation to the south of 10-15 degrees. Given the orientation of the other objects in the site (at cardinal points by corners), such orientation of the building seemed unusual. As it was noted above, the eastern wall of the building bordered on the fence made with closely set hewn timbers of 40 cm wide and 5 cm thick (it should be noted that the fence of the opposite side of the street was made with smaller hewn timbers – 25 cm wide and 2.5 cm thick). The building bordered on the other annexes described above (fig.7) from the western and northern sides.

The building site was defined by dark burned soil against the light-gray fine sand of alluvial/diluvial origin with intensive fractions of burned clay, woody coal, small remnants and burned planks, and measured 17 m x 15 m. These can be interpreted as remnants of the roof (except the fraction of burnt clay that seems to be parts of daub) (fig.8). The western part presented the most intensive layer of debris (up to 20-25 cm in depth); it became less intensive eastward (10-15 cm), but again renewed its intensity about its eastern side, especially in its center, where construction details of the apse were observed (they were located 20 cm below the center). The area contained burials which

3420 were excavated from different levels: from 100.73 to 97.64 BAS (from 1.84 m to 4.93 m from present surface). Some 95 burials have been investigated here. The differentiation of levels can be explained by the fact that burials were continued on the site even after the building was ruined until the late medieval period . Each burial contained a wooden coffin represented by wood stain and (in some cases) two to five iron hammered nails. Only four burials (No. 18-19, 43, 2/51) contained grave goods. All skeletons were in dorsal positions (heads to the west with some deviation to the south); their palms were put on their chests. The “south-head” orientation was observed only in 7 skeletons (No. 2, 4, 6, 19, 2/51, 3/52, 4/53). Judging from the varying levels during which interment occurred (1.98 m to 2.13 m), the fact that the burials overlapped the south west corner of the building, and were in the very close position to the south-east corner of the apse, it appears that all of the burials were made after the building had been ruined. Basing on the grave goods of female burial No.19 (12 buttons of over clothes in the forms of small glass balls framed in bronze) it is possible to say that these burials are dated back to not earlier than the second half of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century. Generally, all the burials were made in a manner prescribed by Orthodox canon. The deviations of orientations mentioned above can be explained by external causes (such as the remnants of the building) that precluded people from complying with all necessary rules. The custom of establishing a cemetery on the site of a ruined church is well-known in East Slavonic Orthodoxy. Moreover, such Orthodox cemeteries are considered by archaeologists as the signs of ancient churches, especially of wooden churches (Ioannisian, 1996, pp.13-14).

Fig. 7 Church situation plan

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Fig. 8 General view of filing of building before clearing

Despite the fact that the west side of the building was heavily damaged by the late burials, it remained possible to investigate some construction details of the building. Vertical embrasure to the height of three log courses (out of the total of five surviving log courses) with the width of 0.83 m was observed at elevation 98.71 BAS (3.86 m from present surface, that corresponds to the day surface at the time of construction) at a distance of 2.9 m from the north-west corner of the building. A rectangular-shaped pit of 63 cm x 58 cm was investigated near the southern edge of the embrasure in close proximity to the timbers. A circular niche 26 cm in diameter and 30 cm in depth was found within the pit at a depth of 47 cm. Thus, the depth of the pit totaled to more than 1 m. The infill of the pit consisted of humus light brown sandy clay with fractions of wooden dust, but without clear signs of fire. The abovementioned embrasure is likely to be a doorway, and the pit was arranged for a portal post (unfortunately, there were no signs of such posts in the northern part of the postulated doorway; they were supposedly ruined by the later burial pits of the cemetery). Two more post holes (arranged in a simpler manner) – measuring 20 cm in diameter and 35 cm in depth were investigated near the ends of the west and north walls at a distance of 15 cm and 50 cm, respectively; the distance between the post holes is 1 m. They could have fixed the supports of the exterior batter board of the walls.

The interior of this part of the building was represented by the burned profile made of half-timbers up to 10 cm thick and up to 40 cm wide that was observed in parallel to the west and north walls of the building at elevations of 98.99 BAS (3.58 m) – 98.83 (3.74 m). The distance between the timbers of the west wall and a half-timber of the profile measured 1.6 m throughout the length of the wall (with three gaps and some deviation to the east – up to 45 cm – of its northern fragment). A distance between the second half-timber and the north wall of the building totaled to 1.42 m (near

3422 the north-west corner) and 1.55 m. The second half-timber, just like the first one, was broken on its east end, and this east fragment was a fork-shaped. The half-timbers were joined near the north-west corner of the building using the “third time tooth dovetailed” technology.

The inner space of the building bordered by these half-timbers was marked by traces of burnt planks oriented along the longer walls of the building (from west to east) that may be considered as flooring. Some 11 burials have been investigated under the collapse of this construction (five of them were female burials). Each skeleton was in wooden coffin made of log in a dorsal arm-crossed position. The burials were situated along the west wall in two lines. Four of the burials were overlapped by heaps of the abovementioned half-timbers and building debris from the fire that destroyed the building. All these testify to the fact that the burials were interred during the period that the building existed and was functioning as a church. This debris may represent the traces of the upper construction (such as the choir loft) of the building. What were probably choir loft pillars are represented by two round pits filled with woody coal, 0.9 m in diameter and about 0.9 in depth, and located at elevation 98.54 BAS (4.03 m). They were situated at a distance of 1.75 m from the western wall closer to the center of the wall to the north from the doorway. The distance between the pits is 1.5 m. Traces of the other support pillars were probably obscured by numerous trenches on the inside area of the building. The area that corresponded to the central area of the building was represented by small round pits of 25 cm to 30 cm in diameter and rectangular pits of 10 cm x 15 cm in size at elevations of 98.57 (3.97 m) – 98.60 (4.0 m). They were arranged as regular and meridian-directed rows over the area of 5 x 4 m. It is quite possible that they represent the supports for floor beams (fig.9).

Fig. 9 General plan of west and general parts of the building

3423 The structural addition to the building that was built in a middle section of the east wall represented the most important detail of construction that reflected the specificity of the building. In the contrast to a doorway, the addition was locked with the lowest log of the east wall of the main mass of the building. Thus, the construction consisted of two logs; each of them was 3 m in length, and the block of the addition measured 2.5 m x 2.5 m with the ends of the north-east and south-east corners extending to 20 cm. The diameters of the pine logs of the four surviving log courses of the addition were also 20 cm. In the interior, the length of the logs (1.2 m) of the northern and southern log courses that connected them with the east walls of the main massive of the building seems unusual. The exterior extent of the projection was 1.3 m while the interior was similar to altars of 3.0 m x 1.2 m in size. The projection was separated from the main interior space by a bulkhead, which was not connected with the main walls. The ground sill of the bulkhead (4.12 m length, 6 cm wide and 4 cm thick) was set into a trench of 5 cm in depth. A perpendicular joist, which fixed the beam, was observed northwardly to a distance of 55 cm.

The eastern wall and the outer parts of the northern and southern walls of the projection were enclosed within a wicker fence consolidated with clay daub. Traces of the wicker fence are represented by a number of small holes (with average diameter up to 8 cm) around the wall of the projection at a distance of 15-20 cm. Moreover, level with the lower ends of the holes (98.34 BAS or 4.23 m from present surface), traces of a plank (1.5 m length and 15 cm wide) in a form of wood stain were observed; the plank was not burned. Probably, the plank served as an additional support of the wicker fence at the level of its base. All the construction features of the structural projection, lateral partitions of the eastern side of the main block, imitation of the exterior circular face of the building, and a central bulkhead, allow the statement that the structural projection was a central apse of the log temple (fig.10).

Fig. 10 Apse of the church, traces of wicker-fence around its face

3424 Remnants of the constructional arrangement of the interior space of the apse and the part of the building that bordered the altar serve as additional arguments to underpin the thesis about the new temple which was discovered in the Podil district of Kyiv during the excavations of 2003. Actually, the entire surface of the apse is represented by a clay platform of 1.87 m (north-south line) x 2.12 m (east-west line) in size (elevation of 98.53 BAS or 4.04 m below the surface and 96.68 BAS or 3.89 m). An oval pit of 10 cm x 30 cm in size and 30 cm in depth was investigated near the southeast corner of the platform. The pit was filled with light brown sand; two heavily corroded iron objects were found in the pit. It seems that the platform served as a foundation of the central altar, and the pit and iron objects represented a crypt under the altar.

A cross-shaped pit was investigated at a distance of 0.7 m from the wall of the pre-altar enclosure on the central latitudinal line of the building (the top of the pit was at an elevation of 98.96 BAS or 3.61 m below the present surface). The pit had the traces of wood on its side walls and measured 0.65 x 0.70 m and 0.5 m in depth). A small rectangular reservoir was adjacent to the southern end of the cross-shaped pit (1.2 m in its north-south line x 0.5 m in its east-west line and 0.4 m in depth). According to logic of arrangement of liturgical space, the complex should be attributed as a baptistery (fig.11). It is quite possible to analogize the cross-shaped baptistery with baptisteries of the Early Byzantine, including Tauric Chersonesos. We may give the following examples: the baptistery on Rhodes, in the Iallessos basilica, (dated to the fifth – sixth centuries), the baptistery in basilicas in Nove and near the village Chaban-Dere (Bulgaria, the sixth century), the baptistery in the basilica in Nerezi (Bosnia and Herzegovina, the fifth – sixth centuries), the atrium with fial of the Uvarov Basilica in Chersonesos, dated to the sixth - seventh centuries (Zavadskaya 2002, pp. 251-269, figs. 1, 7:а; 9:а,б). One more analogy is from the category of the underground churches synchronous to the church under discussion. The cross-shaped baptistery (1.25 x 0.9 x 0.8 m in size and 0.5 m in depth) built in a rock in the south-east part of the cave temple (so called Temple with Baptistery) near Tepe-Kermen dated back to the eleventh – twelfth century. (Maharychev 1997, pp. 85-86, figs. 321,322).

However, the location of the baptistery of the new Kyiv Podil church seems somewhat strange. It was situated against the central altar on its outer side. The open nature of the baptistery can be explained by shifting from catechetical christening to the indicative formula when the christening was focused primarily on a newborn (Kuntsler 2001, pp. 351-354). It testifies to the expansion of Christianity through the medieval realms not only in its numbers and geography, but also in its nature – the process that was intensified in Europe exactly at the turn of the eleventh and twelfth centuries and culminated in the fifteenth - sixteenth centuries. Thus, the arrangement of the baptistery in the center of a regular church in the Podil district of Kyiv in the twelfth century witnessed the new Christian style of life of the Kyiv population. One can observe analogous location of the baptistery (against the altar) in Northern Europe in the wooden churches of the twelfth – thirteenth centuries on Gotland and Western and Southern Sweden (Lagerlöf 1982, pp. 312-315, Abb. 6; Lagerlöf 1999, pp. 76-78, Fig. 56). Undoubtedly, the custom originated from the

3425 arrangement of liturgical space in the Byzantine capital during the pre-iconoclastic period. However, there was a separate structure for the central arrangement of the baptistery (Megaw 1974, p. 67).

Fig. 11 Baptistery of the church

The construction details of the interior of the Kyiv Podil church excavated in 2003 reveal the complicated processes of the Rus’/Scandinavian/Byzantine cultural synthesis of post-Viking Christianity in Eastern and Northern Europe. The church was constructed following the plans of Scandinavian one-nave churches of the eleventh – twelfth centuries with pillars that supported the choir gallery while the central part of the building was free. This arrangement of the choir loft of the Podil Church followed the planning principles of the wooden church in Kinsarvik (Norway, second half of the eleventh century). In the Kinsarvik church the choir gallery rested upon six big pillars; two pillars (close to the entrance) followed the situation of pillar pits against the west wall of the newly investigated wooden church in Kyiv (Chrstie 1982, S. 2, Abb. 2). Moreover, in the exterior design of the apses, the Kyiv-Podil carpenters tried to follow construction principles of stone-altar, one-apse temples with a central space without pillars (fig.12). This arrangement is typical for Europe as a whole (Ahrens 1982, pp. 214-216; Ioannisian 1996, pp. 41 – 46). According to the localization of the church on the historical map of - on the periphery of the central region of Old Podil with the Church of the Virgin Pyrogoshcha (c.1131) as its central point - it is possible to conclude the wooden temple investigated in 2003 was one of the parish churches of the Podil district of Kyiv during the height of the Rus’ period.

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Fig. 12 General arrangement of the church at final stage of investigation

REFERENCES

Ahrens, С., 1982, Frühe Holzkirchen im Nördlichen Europa. – Hamburg.

Chrstie, H. “Stabkirchen und Archäjlogie“ in Frühe Holzkirchen im Nördlichen Europa, Hamburg.

Hupalo, K. and Tolochko, P., 1975. “Davniokyivsky Podil u svitli novykh arkheolohichnykh doslidzhen” in Starodavniy Kyiv, Kyiv.

Ioannisian, O., 1996, “Dereviannye khramy domongolskoy Rusi” in Uspenskaya tzerkov v Kondopoge, Kondopoga-S.-Peterburg.

Kuntsler, М., 2001, Liturhiya Tserkvy. - Lviv.

Lagerlöf, E., 1982, “Mittelalterliche Holzkirchen in Westschweden“ in Frühe Holzkirchen im Nördlichen Europa, Hamburg

Lagerlöf, E., 1999, Gotland och Bysans. – Visbi.

Magarychiov, Yu., 1997, Peschernye tserkvi Tavriki. – Simferopol.

3427 Megaw, A.H.S., “Byzantine architecture and decoration in Cyprus: metropolitan or provincial” in Dumbarton Oaks Papers, № 28.

Sahaydak, М., 1991, Davniokyivsky Podil. – Kyiv.

Sahaydak, M. and Zotsenko, V., 2004 “The Origin and Characteristic Features of the Early Urbanization of Kyivan Rus’”, a paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on European History: Ancient to Modern, Athens Institute for Education and Research

Zavadskaya I, 2002. “Baptisterii Khersonesa” in Materialy po arkheolohii, istorii i etnografii Tavri, vol. ІХ, Simferopol.

3428 Additional Papers