Russian ecclesiastical architecture presents a very interesting study in artistic geography, and its monuments typify, with unusual fidelity, the various episodes in the development of Russia itself. The lusty northern strength, the mystical Byzantine piety, and a haunting orientalism are all expressed in the church buildings, and the long development which brought them into organic architectural unity is a fascinating one to follow. Its theme is a curious counterchange of northern and southern elements, both affected (in varying degrees) by the East.
Christianity filtered into the old heart-land of Russia from the south, but the first churches of all, modest indeed, were doubtless built in the local northern “vernacular” architecture of shed-like units. Early evidence of various kinds indicates an underlying architecture of this sort in Ireland (seventh century), the Carolingian Empire (eighth century, figure 1), Britain (tenth century), and Scandinavia (eleventh century) — if not before, in each case.