Holy Rus' Log Blog

The Octagon of Ely Cathedral

‘Despite its vulnerability to fire, damp and rot, wood is a durable material that, over time, can become almost as hard as steel. From medieval barns to 17th-century log churches, timber structures have survived across Northern Europe over centuries’

http://www.apollo-magazine.com/news-and-comment/architecture/7741783/architecture.thtml

Church of St Nicholas (1727), Ratonavolok, Archangel region, 27th February 2006

‘The Russian mentality has developed to understand “old” as something that is out of date… Some years ago, the abbot of a monastery was asked why he had knocked down the porch of his 300-year-old church, and he replied as honestly as he could: “Because it was old!”’

http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/alexander-mozhayev/tragedy-of-russias-abandoned-wooden-churches

Russian BookWorld – 11th March 2012

http://english.ruvr.ru/radio_broadcast/28742746/68239105.html

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