Quarter Churches of the Mediaeval Town atop Eski-Kermen Plateau

Abstract

In the late sixth century AD, the Byzantines established a fort atop the plateau of Eski-Kermen. From the tenth to twelfth century, this structure developed into a small mediaeval town. Almost all the territory of the southern half of the plateau was occupied by a few rectangular quarters each comprising several houses. The excavations of the quarters in question unearthed four small aisleless churches of two types: I – with a rectangular hall and an apse, II – with a narthex attached to the naos with an apse. According to stratigraphic observations, the quarter churches in question were built in the tenth and eleventh century following the re-planning of many town quarters. The architectural appearance of the quarter churches of type I is reconstructed by a small model of a church carved from limestone. The churches were small buildings of rectangular ground-plan, covered with a gable roof and having a protruding semicircular apse with a vaulted roof. The roofs were covered with tiles. The walls were plastered inside; in some churches, they were additionally covered with polychrome fresco paintings. According to the proportions of the model, the height of the gable-roofed church equalled to the building length without the apse, i. e. around five meters. The ground plan, dimensions, and proportions of the church of type II are similar to those of the arcosolia church, which L. G. Kolesnikova excavated in 1963–1965 in the port area of Chersonese. From the tenth to twelfth century, aisleless churches spread through the entire area of Byzantium. According to V. M. Polevoi, wide distribution of the single type of churches from the tenth to twelfth century testifies to the development of “folk architecture.” The archaeological excavations at Eski-Kermen plateau revealed a re-planning of all the urban quarters which started from the late ninth century with the aim of the construction of quarter churches to be owned by a single family or clan. This process testifies to the strengthening of the Church’s positions even in small towns located on the imperial borderland.

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