The Karachay-Cherkess Republic is the former territory of the Alanian state, which existed from the first millennium to the 15th century, where the main religion was Christianity, which came from Byzantium in the 7th century. However, religion did not take root immediately, and only three centuries later churches and temples began to be built here. Some of them have survived to this day, and everyone can see them with their own eyes.
Shoan Temple
Today, three main temples have been preserved on the territory, which have names such as North, South and Middle, as well as several other cloisters that date back to this time of construction and are included in the group of the Alanian period.
The article will focus on the Shoanin temple, which got its name because of its location - on Mount Shoana. It is located at a dizzying height, and from afar it seems that it is just floating in the air. Someone even compares it with the "Swallow's Nest", located in the Crimea.
The building belongs to the group of Alanian temples, which in ancient times were built on the modern territory of the republic. Places where you can turn to God, confess - all this was important for local residents in those days when religion was firmly established."settled" among the population.
History
The ancient Shoanin Temple was built in the 10th century and is more than a thousand years old. Historians believe that the bishop's residence was located on the mountain not far from the temple. This is also evidenced by the storage of books found in the 18th century, which subsequently disappeared and were never found.
There were trade routes at the bottom of the mountain, so the area was densely populated. To protect it, the locals built a fortress, part of which has survived to this day.
The Shoanin temple first attracted attention in 1829, when the architect Bernadazzi became interested in it. He was amazed at how competently the temple was built, how correctly they observed the traditions of architecture in this direction.
In the 19th century a monastery was opened here. You can still see the partially preserved cells and the refectory today. However, the monastery lasted only about 20 years and was closed in 1917.
At the end of the 19th century, attempts were made to excavate inside the temple, but they were unsuccessful: only one stone crypt was found.
Description
Shoaninsky temple (Karachay-Cherkessia) looks like a classical building of Byzantine architecture. It has 4 load-bearing columns, a cruciform dome, a protruding cornice and narrow windows. On the walls, if you look closely, you can see ancient frescoes that were not found immediately and quite by accident.
The length of the building isalmost 13 meters, the height is equal to the length, and the width, if measured along the western facade, is 9 meters.
Shoanin temple: how to get there
On the southeastern spur of the mountain there is a temple, on the left bank of the Kuban, in the vicinity of the village of them. Kosta Khetagurova. If you get to the monastery from Karachaevsk, you have to overcome 7 km.
Once upon a time, to get to the temple, it was necessary to overcome several kilometers on foot, climbing the mountain. Today it is quite easy to see the temple. You can even do this in your own car, as the road is laid almost to the temple.
Interesting facts and current state
Shoanin Temple keeps many secrets and mysteries that have not been solved to this day. For example, scientists and architects are trying to understand why the door was made, behind which there is only a cliff, perhaps there was once a hanging gallery here.
One of the researchers found that the Shoaninsky and Northern temples (or Zelenchuksky) are “relatives” among themselves, most likely due to the fact that they were built by masters of the same school.
When the nobleman Naryshkin came to the temple in 1867, he could not see the faces of the saints, about whom so much was told. The frescoes were not visible due to the thick layer of plaster that the monks had recently applied to the walls.
The Karachay-Cherkess Republic does not have large funds for the restoration of historical monuments. Among the sights, those that belong to the era of the Alanian state are especially valuable.
Sometime in 2007year, without notifying the administration of the museum-reserve, local residents decided to make cosmetic repairs in the temple. Roughly knocked down the plaster, because of which the coating under it was damaged in some places. Part of the wall in the temple was opened, and murals and inscriptions in Russian, Georgian, Greek and Armenian were found there. But these found artifacts were not fixed in any way and may be lost in the near future if no action is taken.
Also, several old books were found in the temple, which did not interest art historians and other historians, and most of them were lost over time. One traveler during his stay in Russia, the German doctor Jacob Reineggs, managed to find and get into his possession two books: a church service and a theological debate in Greek.
