Ancient building. Famous buildings and buildings of antiquity. Ancient world

It is generally accepted that Ancient world- a set of civilizations that existed on earth from prehistoric times to the beginning of the Middle Ages. The framework is very conditional - for them they have their own, for America - their own (the beginning of the colonization of the continent by Europeans).

Amazing Legacy

In this time period, there were several civilizations with their own culture. Famous structures and buildings of antiquity have survived to this day. There are not so few of them, but the most striking heritage sites of the past include such as the "City in the Sky" or Machu Picchu in Peru, the temple of Jupiter Baalbek in Lebanon, the famous Egyptian pyramids of Giza, a suburb of Cairo. The list of antiquities includes the aqueducts of the Roman Empire, the glazed windows of Alexandria that arose in the first century AD, the remains of Greek temples, the Jervan aqueduct in Iraq, the concrete domes of Roman temples.

Civilizations close to us

Every continent has ancient objects. But for the inhabitants of Europe (in the geographical sense of the word), the ancient world is associated primarily with Greece and Rome, with the Egyptian Cleopatra, since both Julius Caesar and Antony loved her.

In addition, they and other ancient Roman emperors dreamed of subjugating Egypt. Russian literature and art until the beginning of the 20th century are associated with the myths of Greece and Rome. And the Mediterranean civilizations are considered the cradle of mankind. Therefore, to consider in more detail the famous buildings and buildings of antiquity, you need to start with Greece and Rome.

Acropolis - the pearl of world architecture

In Greece, there are a lot of monuments from prehistoric times, and the whole country is dotted with the ruins of ancient Greek palaces and places of worship. It is rather difficult to count them, but there are objects that are considered symbols of the Ancient World. The most important of them is the Acropolis, located in the continental part of the country in the city of Athens. This is a kind of fortress standing on a hill, the height of which reaches 156 meters in height, it is 300 meters wide, 170 meters long. It is a well-fortified upper city, rising above the unprotected lower one. The Acropolis was the place where the temples of the gods, patrons this city, in which residents could hide during the war. Majestic athenian acropolis is His history is well studied.

Parthenon - dominant of the Acropolis

It should be noted that sculptures and statues from this Acropolis are in many museums around the world. There are 21 objects in it, the most significant of them is the Parthenon - business card not only in Greece, but throughout the ancient world.

Included in the list of "The Greatest Temples in the World", it was built on the foundation of an older temple in the 5th century BC by the architects Kallikrat and Iktin. He rules over the whole area. This ideal, harmonious structure is richly unique features. But dozens of books have been written about every smallest detail of it. The only thing that can be noted is that it is surrounded by columns around the perimeter (this form is called a peripter). This is what makes the temple irresistibly beautiful.

Athens - a treasure trove of ancient architecture

Other structures Ancient Greece in the territory sacred center The Acropolis is represented by such temples as the Erechtheion, dedicated to the legendary Athenian king Erechtheus, the Areopagus (authority), the temple of Athena Nike. On the territory of the entire capital there are ruins of many other temples, since all of Greece is a museum ancient culture under open sky. These are the temples of Olympian Zeus, Nike Aptera, Apollo in Delphi, Poseidon at Cape Sounion, Hera on the Peloponnese, Demeter in Eleusis. These are the most famous structures and buildings of antiquity created in Greece.

Priority of places of worship

In a later period, one of the first meteorological structures was built in Athens - the Tower of the Winds, 12 meters high, with a base diameter of 8 m. The parameters of these ancient museums are perfect, they underlie all architecture and are studied by all architects of the world.

Of all the above objects of antiquity, only the Areopagus is an administrative building, all the rest are places of worship. The largest sanctuary is Olympia, which is located on the Peloponnese peninsula. It was dominated by the cult of Zeus.

The main visiting card of Rome

Great Roman Empire - oldest civilization Mediterranean originating from Ancient Greece. According to legend, the direct descendants of Aeneas, the hero of the Trojan War, the brothers Remus and Romulus, fed by a she-wolf, founded Rome and greatest empire who gave the world a great culture.

The structures of ancient Rome in this article are presented by the 10 greatest architectural examples that many inhabitants of the Earth are familiar with, even far from scholarship. Who does not know the Colosseum - main character Rome? A half-destroyed outer three-tiered wall surrounds an oval arena. In ancient times, the total number of arches on the wall is 240, 80 of them are in the lower tier. In the arches of the first and second floors there were sculptures - the work of the best masters of Rome.

The brightest and most characteristic

The Appian Way is also familiar to many, because the sad death of the companions of Spartacus, chained alive to the pillars located along it, is known from the school bench. And the final shots of the cult American film touched film lovers in many countries of the world.

famous buildings and buildings of antiquity, located in ancient capital, adequately represents the Roman Forum, which already during the reign of Tarquikios the Proud became the center of the political, cultural and religious life of the Roman Empire. Here are the temples of Vesta, Vespasian and Saturn. Tragic or happy pages are associated with each of them. ancient history. The well-preserved Trajan Column belongs to the beginning of the 2nd century AD. 185 steps located inside, go to observation deck located at the 38th height. The sculptor Apollodorus of Damascus erected it in 114. It symbolizes the victory over the Dacians.

Next on the list

The Roman Pantheon is unique - the temple of all the gods. Built in 126 AD, it dominates the Piazza della Rotonda.

You can find out what the famous buildings and buildings of antiquity looked like by looking at the marble Arc de Triomphe Titus. Erected it oldest structure in 81 in honor of the capture of Jerusalem. An arch rises over Via Sacra. Single-span, it has a height of 15.4 meters, width reaches 13.5 m, the depth of the span is about 5 meters, its width is 5.33 meters. Any chariot, including a quadriga, could enter such a gate. Bas-reliefs depicting Titus with trophies have been preserved. The Jewish temple was completely destroyed by him, and the winners got its main shrine - the minor. All this can be seen on the bas-relief.

Famous Roman baths and unique temples

Continue the list of masterpieces of ancient Roman architecture. Where did this name come from? Caracalla is the nickname of someone who lived in the 3rd century AD. The ancient Roman baths are special world where the elite of society had fun, went in for sports, conducted intellectual disputes, concluded contracts. The surroundings matched: the walls and the actual fonts were made of the best varieties of marble, sculptures stood everywhere, including the statue of Apollo Belvedere.

Seventh on the list architectural structures ancient rome"is occupied by a composition of two temples of different configurations - rectangular and round. These temples were erected in honor of Portun (patron of ports) and Hercules. They are located on the left bank of the Tiber, in the very place where ships used to moor.

Mausoleum and catacombs

Under the eighth number is the Field of Mars - the left bank of Rome. Behind him is the Mausoleum of Hadrian - an architectural monument-tomb for the imperial family. On a square pedestal with a side equal to 84 meters, there is a cylinder with a diameter of 64 meters, crowned with a statue of the emperor in the form of the sun god, controlling a quadriga (team of 4 horses). This huge building was not used for its intended purpose, it became a strategic object.

Last on the list of the most important architectural masterpieces The Roman Empire go famous Catacombs. This is a network of buildings (60 in total), interconnected and intended for burials (about 750,000 burials), with a total length of 170 km. Most of of which stretches along the Appian Way.

Masterpieces of the East

The greats of the world are adequately supplemented by another grandiose monument. This is the Great Chinese Wall, whose length from edge to edge is 21,196 kilometers. Erected by one-fifth (exactly one million) of the country's population in the 3rd century BC, it clearly fixed the borders of the state and made China impregnable. This unique monument antiquities. And the pagodas and Buddhist monasteries of India? These are also monuments of the ancient past.

The first Russian pearls of architecture

All of the above, as well as structures Ancient Rus', belongs to the great world heritage. Only our civilization is young compared to others. The most ancient in our country is the architecture of Novgorod, Pskov and Kyiv, in which from 989 to 996 the Church of the Tithes, destroyed by Batu, was erected.

The next oldest by our standards architectural monument Kievan Rus is the Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernigov, well preserved even now, then the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. The first cross-domed structures were always based on the cross, and the temple was crowned with a dome. Such churches are the main type of ancient places of worship in Rus'.

Byzantine masters and their offspring

The first stone temples were built by craftsmen invited from Byzantium. Russian places of worship did not blindly repeat Byzantine architecture. Our churches have a strong personality. Yaroslav the Wise actively and on a grand scale engaged in construction. He, concerned that a huge country had just adopted a new religion, wanted to approve it with a grandiose construction of temples. The largest, which at that time had no analogues anywhere, even in Byzantium, was a 5-nave 13-domed building laid in 1017.

The triumph of Orthodoxy

It was followed by the Sophia cathedrals of Novgorod (1045-1050) and Polotsk (1060). They were also considered 5-nave, although most Russian churches are 3-nave. The dome was supported by internal pillars - hence the names: 4-, 6-, or even 8-pillar.

In 1073-1079, the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was built by specially invited Greeks. This temple, called the "Great Church", has become a model for Orthodox buildings being built throughout the country. Such religious buildings as the Vydubetsky Monastery in Kiev (1070-1081), Spas-on-Berest (1113-1125) belong to a new type of cathedrals, since they all had an extension (nartesque) with a staircase. The most ancient temples had no vestibules at all.

From the moment of the construction boom launched by Yaroslav the Wise, all the Grand Dukes were engaged in active urban planning. Except architectural monuments, the descendants were masterpieces of applied art and literature. The Tale of Bygone Years is first mentioned in 852.

Publications in the Architecture section

The oldest buildings in Russia

From Derbent to Vyborg, from Kaliningrad to the Bashkir village of Chishma. We peer into the depths of history and study together with Sofia Bagdasarova which buildings in Russia break age records.

The most ancient buildings

The most ancient buildings erected by man are undoubtedly megalithic structures (menhirs, dolmens and cromlechs). The British Stonehenge is the most famous, however, a considerable number of such structures have been preserved on the territory of Russia. It is impossible to choose the most ancient of them, the chronological framework is too wide, and there are no exact dates. The most famous are the dolmens of the Kuban and the Caucasus, created in the 3rd–2nd millennium BC. e. But you can also find them in Northern Russia(for example, on Solovki), and in Siberia.

The oldest Christian churches

The oldest churches in Russia were built in the Byzantine era, even before the Great Schism of Christianity into Orthodoxy and Catholicism in 1054. They are located in the Black Sea basin, which was ruled by Byzantium. The first of them is the Crimean Church of John the Baptist in Kerch - ancient city Panticapaeum, founded in the 7th century BC. e., later - Byzantine possession. This temple, erected by the Byzantines, stood at least as early as 757 AD. e.

Younger and more provincial in terms of architecture are the temples of the Alanian state, which adopted Christianity in 916 (now Karachay-Cherkessia). These are the Shoaninsky temple (1st half of the 10th century), the Sentinsky temple (967) and the three Zelenchuk churches - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (916-925), Elijah the Prophet (10th century) and the Life-Giving Trinity (10th century). They are included in .

ancient islamic buildings

In the same southern regions the oldest Islamic religious building also rises. The Juma Mosque stands in Derbent, an important fortress of the Armenian Emirate of the Arab Caliphate ( modern Dagestan). It was built in 733-734.

Islamic architects also built other types of buildings, but due to poor preservation, researchers sometimes wonder what purpose they were intended for. Such is the mausoleum of Tura Khan, which, perhaps, was not a tomb, but a courtroom. It was built in the 14th-15th centuries (or maybe even in the 12th century) near the village of Chishmy in Bashkortostan. Near the city of Bolgar in Tatarstan there is a historical and archaeological complex "Bulgar" - former city Bulgar ulus of the Golden Horde. There are many sights on its territory, including the mysterious Black Chamber (XIV century): either a mausoleum or a resting place for dervishes. Other Bulgar buildings are also attributed to that era.

The oldest ancient Russian church

The most ancient temples of Ancient Rus' remained on the lands of Ukraine and Belarus. Thus, the oldest church of this medieval state on the territory modern Russia turned out to be the Hagia Sophia in Novgorod, founded in 1045 and completed five years later.

And here ancient church in Moscow, it already belongs to the post-Mongolian time - this is the Spassky Cathedral of the Spaso-Andronikov Monastery (1420–1425), now the Andrei Rublev Museum.

Petersburg is the same old church- Peter and Paul Cathedral, built in stone in 1712.

The oldest catholic church

The oldest Catholic cathedral in the territory Russian Federation is, apparently, Gothic, built in 1288 in the East Prussian Königsberg (modern Kaliningrad). It is also, most likely, the oldest Lutheran church, since it, like other Catholic churches in those lands, was taken over by Protestants in the 16th century. Today, an Orthodox community is housed within its walls, and the building bears the name of St. Nicholas Church.

Ancient fortifications

The most ancient fortress building, perhaps, is the Crimean Tower of Zeno in ancient Chersonese, which began to be built in the 2nd century BC. e. during the struggle of this policy with the Scythians. She has been rebuilt several times. last time in the tenth century. Although today the tower is almost a ruin, its power still impresses.

In the same 10th century, another fortress tower was erected in the Volga Bulgaria (now Tatarstan), which can be seen in the Devil's Settlement (Elabuga Museum-Reserve). Her modern look- result of reconstruction; the original masonry is preserved only on one side.

And in the north of the country there are fortresses founded by eternal enemies - Novgorodians, Livonian knights and the Swedish military. These are the stone Novgorod citadel (1333), the Pskov "Persy" Krom (1393), the Koporskaya fortress (1237) and

A journey through the most ancient cities on the planet will help you touch the origins of civilization. Visiting during summer vacation some of them, you can not only have a good rest, but also learn a lot of interesting information.

1. Maltese megalithic temples, Malta

Maltese temples are the oldest man-made structures on the ground. Scientific research has proven that temples were built a thousand years before construction Egyptian pyramids. Scientists cannot understand how people at that time could build such structures without the use of special equipment. After all, many monolithic stone slabs from which temples were built weigh more than fifty tons. There is indirect evidence that giant people lived in Malta at that time, and it was not difficult for them to move multi-ton monoliths. There is no answer to the question what kind of civilization existed in this territory, and where did the builders of stone temples go. After all, nowhere else on Earth were found similar structures. Unfortunately, numerous wars and civil strife that took place on the Maltese territory destroyed the ancient buildings to a greater or lesser extent, but many of them survived and are available for tourists to visit. UNESCO took prehistoric temples under its protection and listed them world heritage. Today they are open to tourists.

2. Sardinian ziggurat, Sardinia

The Sardinian ziggurat was built over five and a half thousand years ago and was an important religious center. During the Second World War, the ziggurat was thoroughly destroyed, as a line of defense passed through this place. But starting in 1954, the Sardinian ziggurat began to be restored and restored. Currently, the prehistoric complex hosts numerous groups of tourists from all over the world.

3. Newgrange, Ireland

Newgrange is one of Ireland's landmarks. The oldest building was erected between 3100 and 2900 BC. Newgrange is megalithic structure, multi-ton stone slabs were used as building material. The plates were interconnected without the use of a special solution. The structure is thirteen meters high and eighty-five meters in diameter. Scientists suggest that it was used as a calendar, since the structure is strictly oriented to the cardinal points. Perhaps, with the help of this structure, the time of sowing and harvesting was determined. Newgrange is located near the Boyne River.

4Hulbjerg Jættestue, Denmark

The building was built over five thousand years ago and was used as a tomb. Scientists archaeologists found the remains of four hundred people in the tomb. The teeth of one of the buried people had traces of healing. The level of ancient dentistry amazed scientists. Without metal instruments, the doctor managed to put a dental filling of a sufficiently high quality.

5. Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt

The oldest in Egypt was built in 2650 BC. The author of the pyramid, Imhotep, erected it for Pharaoh Djoser as a tomb. The pyramid has a stepped shape, for this reason in the circles of scientific archaeologists it is also called the Step Pyramid. The pyramid is very popular among tourists because of its venerable age and unusual shape.

6. Caral, Peru

Karal is a city that existed more than five thousand years ago, it is considered the oldest urban settlement in the American continent. The city arose approximately at the same time as other first world civilizations. Scientists hope to find answers to questions about the emergence of the first civilizations in the city. Currently, seventeen pyramids have been cleared of sand and are available for tourists to visit. The reasons for the disappearance of Caral have not yet been established, it is assumed that people left the city in 1600 BC and moved to other more favorable areas of Peru.

7. Treasury of Atreus, Greece

The tomb is located in Mycenae, its estimated age is three thousand two hundred years. The famous archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann made a great contribution to the scientific research of the tomb. During the excavations, it was found that all the domed tombs, and there were nine of them, were completely looted, but the earlier tombs, erected in the sixteenth century BC, remained intact. Archaeologists discovered the richest burials, the faces of all the people buried in the tomb were covered with masks made of gold. The robes of the buried were also decorated with gold. Scientists have come to the conclusion that the bodies of once-reigning dynasties rest in these tombs.

Modern building technologies have evolved over the years, but I highly doubt that Metro or Pyaterochka will last as long as the ancient Egyptian pyramids.

10. Chivik Tomb, Sweden

The royal tomb was built in Scandinavia in bronze age about 3 thousand years ago.


The tomb, built 3,200 years ago, was only opened in 1975. During its study, archaeologists found the remains of a hundred people and their property - bronze bracelets and ceramic buttons.


The tomb was built in the Bronze Age, over 3250 years ago. The treasury of King Anreus until the construction of the Roman Pantheon was considered the largest domed structure of that time.


Karal is the ruins of an ancient large settlement which are located in the Peruvian province of Barranca. Caral is currently considered ancient city America, built over 4600 years ago.


The pyramid was built for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser about 4700 years ago. This complex is the oldest stone building in the world.

The tomb was built approximately 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists found the remains of more than 40 people in the burial. Paleoanthropologists found traces of simple dental operations on some turtles.


This is a prehistoric monument and the oldest building in Ireland, which was erected approximately 5100 years ago.


The building was built between 5200 and 4800 years ago. Most likely, this grandiose monument was a temple or an altar.


The exceptionally well-preserved stone house is the oldest building in Europe. It was built approximately 5500 years ago.


Free-standing structures were built over 5,500 years ago and have been used as religious temples. They are considered the oldest prehistoric temples in the world.

Have you ever wondered, walking around Moscow, which house in the capital of Russia is the oldest? We decided not to be tormented by conjectures and tell you where the “old-timers” of Moscow architecture are located.

Spassky Cathedral of the Spaso-Andronikov Monastery

Most ancient temple Moscow, and the oldest building in Moscow. At that time, almost no civil buildings were built of stone, and the oldest fortification - the Kremlin wall - is already the end of the 15th century. According to chronicles, the monastery itself was founded in 1357. After the fire of 1368, in which the original wooden cathedral of the Andronikov Monastery burned down, the stone Spassky Cathedral was built from plinth, from which white stone reliefs with fragments of zoomorphic and plant compositions have been preserved.

Between 1420 and 1425 the Cathedral of the Savior was rebuilt again, and just this white-stone temple of that time has survived to this day. Andrei Rublev and Daniil Cherny participated in the painting of the cathedral (fragments of floral ornaments on the slopes of the windows have been preserved from these frescoes).

Faceted Chamber in the Kremlin

It was built in 1487 - 1491 by the decree of Ivan III by the Italians Marco Ruffo and Pietro Antonio Solari. The name is taken from the eastern facade, finished with faceted stone rust (diamond rust), which was so loved by the Italian architects of the Renaissance. It used to be called the Great Chamber and was the front reception room of the palace. Meetings of the Boyar Duma, meetings of Zemsky Sobors, festivities in honor of the conquest of Kazan (1552), the victory at Poltava (1709), the conclusion of the Nystadt peace with Sweden (1721) were held here.

Here, at the Zemsky Sobor in 1653, a decision was made to reunite Ukraine with Russia. For the queen and the children of the king, a secret viewing tent was set up in the Faceted Chamber. She was opposite the royal throne, and the queen and children through the bars could look at the magnificent ceremonies and receptions of overseas ambassadors. Today it successfully functions as a hall at the Residence of the President of the Russian Federation. I wonder if the secret watch tent still exists.

English court in Zaryadye

The chambers appeared in the 15th century and belonged to the bed-keeper Ivan Bobrischev, also known by the nickname "Yushka". Since the latter, apparently, left no heirs behind him, in the next century the building became state-owned. In 1553, Sir Richard Chancellor discovered the northern sea ​​route connecting England with Russia. Ivan the Terrible, interested in establishing trade relations with Europe, "welcomed the British in Moscow," giving them the right to free and duty-free trade in all Russian cities, serious customs benefits, and a number of other trade privileges. This served as the basis for the creation in London in 1555 of the trading company of Moscow.

Trade relations with England were severed in 1649, when the execution of King Charles I in Great Britain provoked a deep diplomatic crisis between Russia and England. The British representatives were expelled from the country, and the property of the Moscow Company was confiscated.

Passing from hand to hand, the building changed beyond recognition - by the middle of the 20th century, the chambers of the Old English Court on Varvarka had completely lost their original appearance. In the mid-1960s, when Zaryadye had already been demolished, the restorer Pyotr Baranovsky discovered the chambers behind later layers and insisted on preserving the monument, since a car ramp was already planned to be built in its place. Based on his research in 1972. the chambers were returned (with a certain degree of approximation) to the appearance that they had at the end of the 16th century.

Travel Palace of Vasily III

The travel palace of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III (father of Ivan the Terrible) was discovered on Staraya Basmannaya Street (house 15). The find was a real scientific discovery, because it was previously believed that nothing remained of the former palace. The modest-looking mansion turned out to be a "two in one" monument: as it turned out during the restoration, the building served as the basis for the construction of the Golitsyn estate. Thus, the house of the Golitsyn estate of the 18th century is located on top of it, and inside - travel palace. The layout of the palace has been preserved almost completely! Historians have found out that this royal hotel was built on special place. Here they met the famous icon of Vladimir Mother of God in 1395, which, according to legend, saved Rus' from the invasion of Tamerlane.

Chambers of the Golitsyns

Chambers Golitsyn (Krivokolenny pereulok, 10) - the oldest of the buildings that are still residential. Three stone buildings main building and two long side wings) with fragments of buildings of the late 17th - early 18th centuries made up the city estate. Previously, it was believed that the 17th century chamber was preserved only on the first floor of the main house, but a few years ago, restorers discovered that the second, and even the third floors were also built at the same time, in the 17th century! The house is still inhabited to this day. From the side of the courtyard, a very picturesque front garden with a hammock and tables adjoins the house.

Malt shop in the Simonov Monastery

The height of this building is really impressive - we see a five-story house of the 16th-17th centuries! Four floors, and a high attic, which is essentially the fifth floor. According to surviving documents, this building was intended to store the monastery's food supplies.

Cathedral of the Savior on Bor

Most ancient building Moscow in the photo. Cathedral of the Transfiguration on Bor - a monastery cathedral, located in the Moscow Kremlin, in the courtyard of the Bolshoi Kremlin Palace. The name "on Bor" came from those surrounding the temple coniferous forests, which gave the name to the Borovitsky hill itself.

In 1929, after the ban on bell ringing in Moscow, and "in connection with the exploration of non-ferrous metals", the bells were removed from the church belfries. In 1933, the Church of the Savior on Bor, one of the oldest and most interesting in Moscow, was demolished. In its place is an empty square behind the Grand Kremlin Palace. However, the funds of the Moscow Kremlin now have three Dutch-made bells. They are decorated with the inscription given by us and an elegant ornament.