Saint Nicholas and Saint Spyridon church complex
Saint Nicholas and Saint Spyridon church complex is designed in late Byzantine style. Its focus is on traditional old architecture of Crimea. It also features some elements of Art Nouveau, complementing the general stylistic direction. The architecture of the main church and the smaller baptismal one is different, but they form an ensemble. They are connected by an open gallery with a big arch and a guest room above with a view of the territory. The parish house with Sunday school, an entrance group and a chapel for holy water complement the architectural ensemble. The chapel stands at the center of the territory near a small pond. Despite its small size, it becomes a compositional centerpiece.
Project: Saint Nicholas and Saint Spyridon church compleх in Kerch, Crimea, Feodosia diocese
Location: Kerch, Pravdy St, near the Yuri Gagarin park
Capacity: 475 people
Total area of the complex: 502,1 m²
Stage: concept
Year: 2021
Head of the project: Dmitry Ostroumov
Architects: Polina Askarova, Valeria Sikorskaya
Location: Kerch, Pravdy St, near the Yuri Gagarin park
Capacity: 475 people
Total area of the complex: 502,1 m²
Stage: concept
Year: 2021
Head of the project: Dmitry Ostroumov
Architects: Polina Askarova, Valeria Sikorskaya
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker church
The main church consists of the narthex, the main prayer hall, side galleries, the sanctuary part with the sacristy and the sexton's room. From the narthex a staircase leads to the choir and the bell tower. The church is designed for 450 people. It is one-domed and pillarless. The main volume is covered by four large load-bearing vaults. They form a kind of groin vault with sloping ribs and spandrels.
The main volume is crowned with a lighted tholobate on a quadrangle with a traditional Byzantine dome. There are galleries on the south and north sides. The north gallery can contain the Calvary Cross with a panikhida table. The south one can contain a tank for holy water and side exit. The southern side of the gallery has an extra entrance to the sanctuary through the sexton's room. Eastern parts of the gallery adjoin the sanctuary and form the separate rooms: sacristy and sexton's room. The sanctuary rises above the floor level by three 120 mm steps. It is covered with barrel vaults. The central part of the sanctuary ends with an apse and a conch above it. The project envisages a ciborium at the center of the solea. The galleries are covered with beamed flat coffered ceilings. Their central parts are covered with cross vaults. The space under the choir is covered with arches with cross vaults. The narthex is covered with a sail vault. Side parts of the narthex are covered with sloping beam ceilings. There is a barrel vault above the choir in the center. All vaults are expected to be made of brick. The cross vaults are a possible exception. They can be made of construction mesh with plaster or of waterproof gypsum fiber sheet on aluminum frame.
There is a second side exit from the narthex to the gallery connecting the main church with the baptismal one. There is also a ramp for people with limited mobility there. In the narthex a room for cleaning equipment is allocated, a small cloakroom can be arranged near it. On the right and left of the entrance to the church from the narthex, there is a place for large stationary lamps with exhaust hoods. This will free the space of the church from candles that give soot. The space of the choirs can be divided by light partition walls to highlight the necessary areas closed from the choirs themselves. Choirs are designed at the level of +4500 mm.
The main volume is crowned with a lighted tholobate on a quadrangle with a traditional Byzantine dome. There are galleries on the south and north sides. The north gallery can contain the Calvary Cross with a panikhida table. The south one can contain a tank for holy water and side exit. The southern side of the gallery has an extra entrance to the sanctuary through the sexton's room. Eastern parts of the gallery adjoin the sanctuary and form the separate rooms: sacristy and sexton's room. The sanctuary rises above the floor level by three 120 mm steps. It is covered with barrel vaults. The central part of the sanctuary ends with an apse and a conch above it. The project envisages a ciborium at the center of the solea. The galleries are covered with beamed flat coffered ceilings. Their central parts are covered with cross vaults. The space under the choir is covered with arches with cross vaults. The narthex is covered with a sail vault. Side parts of the narthex are covered with sloping beam ceilings. There is a barrel vault above the choir in the center. All vaults are expected to be made of brick. The cross vaults are a possible exception. They can be made of construction mesh with plaster or of waterproof gypsum fiber sheet on aluminum frame.
There is a second side exit from the narthex to the gallery connecting the main church with the baptismal one. There is also a ramp for people with limited mobility there. In the narthex a room for cleaning equipment is allocated, a small cloakroom can be arranged near it. On the right and left of the entrance to the church from the narthex, there is a place for large stationary lamps with exhaust hoods. This will free the space of the church from candles that give soot. The space of the choirs can be divided by light partition walls to highlight the necessary areas closed from the choirs themselves. Choirs are designed at the level of +4500 mm.
Saint Spyridon of Trimythous church
The baptismal church is cruciform in plan, but its main volume is a kind of rotunda. The diameter of its internal dome is almost 6 meters, it has 16 light openings. The dome stands on four girth arches and four trumpet vaults. In the center of the building there is a baptismal font. In the eastern part there is a sanctuary with an apse. In the western part there is a room for cleaning equipment and a dressing room for people to be baptized. There is also a spiral staircase to the choir at +4000 mm. Under the choirs there are coffered ceilings. The sanctuary is covered with two standard barrel vaults, a larger one and a smaller one. These vaults pass into the conch of the sanctuary apse.
There are two exits from the building. An access for people with limited mobility is through a ramp leading to a side exit. Outside, the church is covered with pitched roofs reaching a quadrangle. On the quadrangle stands an octagon and a tholobate crowned with a sloping stepped dome. On the gallery connecting both churches, closer to the baptismal church, at the level of +4000 mm, there is an archondarik, the guest room. It has a bypass terrace, where a spiral staircase leads.
There are two exits from the building. An access for people with limited mobility is through a ramp leading to a side exit. Outside, the church is covered with pitched roofs reaching a quadrangle. On the quadrangle stands an octagon and a tholobate crowned with a sloping stepped dome. On the gallery connecting both churches, closer to the baptismal church, at the level of +4000 mm, there is an archondarik, the guest room. It has a bypass terrace, where a spiral staircase leads.
Outside, the churches are finished with decorative elements and plinthiform brick inserts. Stone moldings and pilasters, as well as carved bas-reliefs are also used. All decorative elements, pilasters and moldings can be made from stone. They can also be made from a composite material based on stone chips by molding and casting. Outside the window blocks there are stone linings with light openings. There are gutters for water draining. The roof of the main church is made of lead, while the roof of the baptismal church is tiled.
The material of the walls of both temples is brick with cladding. The seams on the facades are sealed with lime-cement mortar with a terracotta shade. The foundations are of reinforced concrete.
The material of the walls of both temples is brick with cladding. The seams on the facades are sealed with lime-cement mortar with a terracotta shade. The foundations are of reinforced concrete.
Chapel
Entrance group
The entrance group consists of three volumes. There is an entrance pavilion, a church shop and a gatehouse with a service room. The building can be made of aerated concrete blocks with stone trimming. The foundation is of reinforced concrete. The roofing is preferably of lead, but it can be replaced with tiles or seam metal.
Parish house and Sunday school (provisory version)
All buildings are raised from the ground level by 360 mm. The drawings of forged fences, bas-reliefs and mosaics are provisory. They will be elaborated at later design stages. The sketch design was made according to the main architectural and construction regulations. It follows the spirit of traditional Orthodox church architecture. It takes into account the liturgical features and other functional needs of the parish.
