octagon on cube
{{Short description|Type of architectural composition}}
File:Naryshkin-style church.jpg church]]
File:N.A.Naidenov (1891). Views of Moscow. 42. Petrovsko-Razumovskoe.png
Octagon on cube (also octagon on the quadrangle) is a type of architectural composition in which a building is designed so as the upper octagon-shaped part is placed on the lower cube-shaped part.{{cite web|title=UNESCO World Heritage Site|url=http://kizhi.karelia.ru/info/en/about/unesco_en/|website=Kizhi Museum|publisher=kizhi.karelia.ru|accessdate=13 October 2016}} This composition has been mainly used to design Russian Orthodox churches.{{cite web|last1=Jargin|first1=Sergei|title=Old and new wooden architecture of northern Russia|url=http://www.domusweb.it/en/news/2009/09/10/old-and-new-wooden-architecture-of-northern-russia.html|website=DOMUS|publisher=domusweb.it|accessdate=13 October 2016}}{{cite web|title=Church of John the Baptist in Roshchenie (1710-17), Interior, Southeast Corner, with Frescoes, Vologda, Russia|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/3568/|website=wdl.org|accessdate=13 October 2016|publisher=World Digital Library}}
History
Initially, this architectural solution became widespread in Russian wooden church architecture. At the end of the 17th century, the style firmly established itself among architects of the Moscow Baroque.{{cite web|title=Moscow Baroque|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/moscow-baroque|publisher=encyclopedia.com|accessdate=13 October 2016}} The combination of contrasting forms of this type of church gives striving upward look as dynamism is a characteristic of the Baroque style. Octagon-on-cube churches continued to be built in Russian provinces until the end of the 18th century.{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}}
Evolution of Moscow Baroque
With regard to the Moscow Baroque, there are several different types of octagon-on-cube churches. The main one is a stand-alone, multi-level church, built mainly by the Russian nobility for their suburban estates. The essential attribute of these buildings is a combination of church and bell tower in a single composition. Directly over the octagon level was arranged an open level with eight bells. This type of churches are the starting point for all other versions of the composition.{{cite web|title=О церкви Трех Святителей у Красных ворот, или История московского барокко|url=http://www.e-reading.club/chapter.php/130546/18/Goncharenko_-_Moskva,_kotoruyu_my_poteryali.html|publisher=e-reading.club|accessdate=14 October 2016|language=Russian}}