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The material was prepared by Ryabtseva Svetlana on the basis of a conversation held with the Shtakins family - Marina and Dmitry, on whose site a sazhen bathhouse was designed and built. Moreover, Svetlana took an active part in the development of the bath project according to the traditions of old Russian architecture. The owners willingly shared information about how the original project was brought to life. So, first things first.
In the south of the Moscow region in the Serpukhov district, on the banks of the Oka River, there is a village "N". The mountainous landscape of this area allows us to call it Russian Switzerland. Before the revolution, there were a large number of households in the countryside. Wealthy peasants lived there, most of whom owned working crafts: foundry, blacksmithing, plumbing. Many of them were related, had large plots of land and beautiful houses. Before the revolution it was a village with a wooden church. In this beautiful place, our ancestors also owned a piece of land. For more than 300 years they lived in this place and cultivated this land. In Soviet times, the site was shrunk to a size of 24 acres. As expected, at the beginning of the site there is a solid five-walled hut, built according to Russian traditions in sazhens. Below, in a ravine, springs a source of excellent mineral water, which has served the inhabitants since the formation of the village.
Recently, we have become the heirs of this land. Everything would be fine, but modern man needs more comfort - and we thought about building a bathhouse in this family nest. As usual, appetite comes with eating and we wanted to build a bathhouse with a second floor, with a balcony and a terrace on the first floor. As expected, you need to start with a plan and not a simple one, but with a plan calculated in sazhens, ensuring harmony in the size of the house and the size of the owners. We were also attracted by the fact that a house built by sazhens is durable and has a beneficial effect on all those living in it /1/. Immediately before the start of construction, the bath plan was approved.Plan of the 1st floor.
Attic plan.
The plan of the bath was made according to the ancient Russian sazhens, restored by A.F. Chernyaev on the basis of measurements of Russian temples /1/. Initially, the dimensions of the log house were supposed to be 6x6.4 m, that is, the width was 4 simple sazhens, the length was 4 masonry sazhens. The height of the entire bath was supposed to be 7m, that is, 4 folk sazhens. The foundation was planned to be low, 40 cm, so it was not taken into account. Immediately before the start of work, we made adjustments - we added steps with a canopy and roof overhangs. The final dimensions with the porch turned out to be 7.5 x 8 m, or 4 church fathoms by 6 smaller fathoms.
The plan in sazhens was developed in accordance with all our wishes. It only remained to find excellent builders. The first company we contacted was unable to produce a log cabin that was different from the standard dimensions of 6x6m. We got lucky here. On the building materials market, we managed to get the phone of a foreman from Chuvashia, who offered log cabins for baths with logs as much as 38 cm in diameter.
In May, work began to boil. The area opposite the old house was identified and cleared. Previously, a little lower than the bath, from the side of the steam room, the builders made a septic tank with an overflow system - they dug 3 rings, cemented the bottom and added 2 rings for overflow, they were covered with plastic hatches from above. On the other hand, higher up, they chose a place for a well. The foundation was planned in accordance with all the rules: they provided not only ventilation holes, but holes for pipes - for supplying well water and draining wastewater. In autumn, after the construction of the bathhouse, a well was dug next to the bathhouse. In the future, we planned to supply water directly to the bathhouse, install a boiler in order to take a shower in the summer without resorting to a preliminary firebox to heat water.
The first step was to mark up the foundation.
Workers dug a trench for a strip foundation measuring
6.0x6.5 m and 70 cm deep. 20 cm of sand was laid on the bottom - the so-called sand cushion.
Since ancient times, Russia has been famous for its rich coniferous and deciduous forests. Therefore, the tree acted as the leading building material in those days. Everything was built from wood, from huts for the common people and baths, to mansions for rulers, as well as churches.
An interesting fact is that the secrets of ancient Russian architecture are still applied today. There was a time when wood faded into the background, and stone, concrete and brick were used instead. However, now in the 21st century, wood, as a building material, has gained a second life.
Wood is a traditional material of Russian architecture
All houses in Russia were built from a log house. A log cabin is logs connected to each other. For the construction of huts, pine and larch logs were used, in more rare cases - oak or birch. For the construction of the roof, spruce wood was taken, since it is lighter.
Endless forests are just one of the many reasons why our ancestors preferred wood. Here are a few more factors that influenced the popularity of this building material:
- For a Russian person, wooden houses are not just a place to live, but a kind of continuation of the forest, nature. In such a house, a person feels calm and comfortable.
- The author of On the Russian State, Giles Fletcher, argues in his book that for Russians, a wooden building is much more convenient than a stone one because the stone is cold and damp, and the houses made of dry wood are warm. And this, according to the author, is extremely important for the harsh climate of some regions of Russia.
- Our ancestors understood that, as in the forest, in such a house one can breathe easily and freely. The windows in those days were small and narrow, and in the cold season they were completely covered with boards. Therefore, a wooden dwelling is the best option.
Respect for wood has come to Christian Russia since pagan times. People believed that if you turn to the tree, hug it, then all diseases and problems will go away, because a “good spirit” came from the tree.
You say that all this is a fairy tale? Far from it. After all, in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth. Wood, especially conifers, emits a pleasant aroma, the inhalation of which is a kind of healing inhalation. This is an excellent prevention of colds. And those suffering from chronic bronchitis after a year of living in such a house will forget about their illness. Such aromatherapy calms and relaxes a person. Therefore, our ancestors were not storytellers at all, it was just that people at that time expressed themselves in slightly different words.
What instruments were used in Russia?
The name "log" is not accidental. It came from the expression "cut down a hut." What does this mean? Logs for the log cabin were harvested exclusively with the help of an ax, although saws already existed at that time. Unlike a saw, an ax “smoothes” the wood fibers when cutting, making the ends of the logs smooth.
Nails were used extremely rarely, because when in contact with their surface, the tree began to rot over time. And in those days there were no special impregnations that protect the surface from moisture and insects. Sharpened wooden pegs were used as a fastener.
How were timber harvested for construction?
The choice of wood for the log house was approached very responsibly, because not every trunk will make good material. Pine should be flat and not eaten by insects. Having chosen suitable trees, the craftsmen made special marks on the trunks - notches. The bark was removed in narrow strips towards the root.
A whole piece of bark was needed to allow the resin to run off. After that, the trees were left to stand in the forest, sometimes even for several years. During this time, resin was abundantly released from the tree, lubricating the trunk.
The felling of the selected pines was started in late autumn or early winter, when the tree was already “sleeping”. If cutting is done in summer or spring, the pine tree will start to rot.
Unlike conifers, deciduous trees were cut down during the warm season.
For huts, small trees were chosen, and for temples and churches - centuries-old pines.
Construction of houses
Traditionally, the construction of a house began in the spring with the erection of a special stone sole - the prototype of the modern foundation. If they built a shack (a barn for storing supplies), then they often did without a foundation, i.e. logs were laid on the ground.
A series of logs connected with each other was called a "crown", this name is used to this day.
The buildings of that time can be conditionally divided into several groups:
- crate;
- hut;
- mansions.
A crate is a quadrangular room without windows with a thatched roof, not intended for heating. The cage was rarely used as a dwelling, mainly food was stored in it. The hut is a slightly larger crate with an installed stove. Often the hut was connected to the cage, and the covered passage between them was called the canopy.
Mansions were a combination of several rooms. They included chambers, a basement, a room, a room, etc. The upper floors of the choir were intended for the nobility, and the lower ones for the servants.
In those days, several technologies for building houses were used. For the construction of shacks and cages, a log house was used "in cut", while the logs were stacked in pairs on top of each other. Often they were not even fastened together with stakes.
For the huts, a technology with a funny name “in the paw” was used, and all because the hewn ends of the logs really looked like paws. The fastening was made in such a way that the ends did not go out. This was done to prevent drafts.
With the “in oblo” technology, the ends slightly went beyond the line of the walls and remained round. At the same time, the craftsmen tied logs and crowns together with the help of pegs, and moss was lined between the crowns. This technology was considered the most reliable. The house could stand for more than a century. And the room itself was always warm.
A lot of time has passed since then. However, some ancient Russian secrets of architecture are still relevant. Today's architects and designers successfully apply them in combination with the latest technologies.
Building a house for any nation since the “creation of the world” is considered a kind of act of creativity. And all because it includes all the wisdom, mystery and worldview of the people. Since ancient times, the Slavs built their dwellings and buildings from wood. From ancient times, woodworkers were considered creators of incredible power, involved in special knowledge about the World.
Our Ancestors, building houses for their Family, were in harmony with the surrounding Nature. Deftly using its features, the Ancestors sought to make friends with Nature, to become part of it. Being in unity with it, developing in full mutual understanding, they sometimes achieved miraculous results in this laborious and responsible business.
The huts were cut down, because they made them with axes without a single nail.
And what does an ax do with us, how does it not cut! Here you have a “log house” and a “chopped hut”!
The word construction means - build ‘to be, that is, three forms of build’ to be: length, depth and height.
As a child, everyone loved to count the rings on the saw cut of a tree, there is even an opinion that how many rings on a saw cut - so many years the tree. And if you look closely, you can see that these rings are shifted to one side - to the north. The density of wood in this part is greater. And this property was also used when laying the house. There was a concept - to north logs. That is, the logs were laid with the north side outward, which allowed the structure to breathe. Since the density of wood is more rarefied and softer on the inside of the structure, the air circulates normally from the inside to the outside, so that even waste will come out. Harder wood on the outside does not let air in. Accordingly, in the heat in a wooden house it is cool, and in cold weather it is warm. So it turns out that the building itself - breathes and lives.
The reason for the widespread use of wood in the construction industry in Russia lies not only in the fact that it perfectly retains heat, and, therefore, is suitable for any climatic conditions, but also in the fact that it is able to share its special energy with people. It turned out a kind of symbiosis of man and structure. The hut kept and protected the person, and the person fed the structure with his energy, thereby prolonging the time of its existence. After all, it is no secret to anyone that abandoned huts and houses are destroyed very quickly.
Wood, as a building material, in Russia, in particular, was used everywhere. Almost until the 15th century, most of the buildings were wooden. They built everything from wood: huts, boyar houses, fences, barns, baths, fortresses, temples. The most significant buildings were erected from standing logs, more than a hundred years old. The only criterion for the size of the building was the size of the log - its length and thickness. For construction, they mainly tried to take a branchless log, that is, one with branches located at the top. Hence the expression: to build "without a hitch".
Our Ancestors knew where to cut and where not to cut trees to build a dwelling. After all, only a living, filled with vitality Tree is suitable for housing.
Now everyone knows what the lines of force of the earth are, that there are positive points and opposite ones. At certain points, the tree was filled with the appropriate power. No wonder there were such concepts as "white forest" and "black forest".
They are preserved with us in folk tales: "and they walked through the white forest and the birds sang to them, and the berries and mushrooms were apparently not visible." Or: "and he drove into the black forest, where the birds do not sing, flowers, mushrooms do not grow."
The Slavs knew about the existence of zones of vital activity and inactivity, in other words, about points of reception and points of radiation. Therefore, they knew not only where and what kind of wood can be used, but also in what place it is possible and necessary to build a house.
The Slavs followed a few more rules when harvesting wood for construction:
The trees that grew on the banks of the rivers were never cut down, as the roots keep the shore from destruction:
Be sure to plant new trees in even greater numbers than cut down.
The wood for the construction of any type of structure was selected very carefully - based on the properties of wood, as well as on the conditions of the area and the future purpose of the building. Coniferous types of wood - larch, pine, spruce - enjoyed special honor. But oak, linden, aspen and others did not go unnoticed. The most durable coniferous species is larch. One of its main properties is that it takes on the features of metal and does not rot, but only when it constantly stands in water. Therefore, it was most widely used in construction in marine or coastal areas of residence.
Pine, due to the high content of resins and its natural softness, was ideally suited for the construction of a log house. The resin inside and on the surface of the log, after drying, seemed to glue the wood fibers, which endowed it with water-repellent and heat-retaining properties. Therefore, pine was often used when erecting structures in conditions where air humidity is high.
Oak was also often used, because its wood does not rot in water. Our Ancestors often built wells from it and made piles for buildings in swampy areas.
Linden was often used in the construction of barns (rodents did not touch it), baths and barns (it keeps heat well). Her only minus is that she is afraid of the fungus.
Aspen could be used in the manufacture of shelves in the bath, as it well pulls together excess and negative energy.
Spruce wood is denser than pine and more difficult to process, but the air in a spruce hut is unusually clean.
As a rule, for the walls of huts and fortresses, logs were used from "tarred on the vine" pines and larches, and a roof was made from light spruce. And only where these tree species were rare, they used strong oak or birch.
Harvesting wood, the craftsmen approached this task with particular care. Up to 150 logs were required for one small hut.
Taking up construction, our Ancestors, before hitting a tree with an ax, asked him for forgiveness and explained the need for their act, and also brought trebes. They paid attention to many signs very carefully.
There was a belief that old or dry trees should not be cut down, it is better to let them die their own death in the forest. You can not use "violent" trees - those that have grown at the intersection of roads or in the place of forest paths. It was believed that the log cabin of them would be shaky and dilapidated.
Our Ancestors have Wisdom: “To build the dwelling of your Family, do not cut down a dead and sleeping Tree, and do not disturb the Tree on a full moon. For the Gods will not see your habitation, and the brownie will not look after your good. You are only looking for Trees that have come to life, drinking the juice of the Raw Earth in the spring. Bring forgiveness to the chosen Tree and offer gifts and treats for it. On which fertile day in the Week you will begin to put up the dwelling of your Family, that Patron God will help you "
To be more clear, then:
They didn’t take a dead tree, because it no longer has vitality, such a tree does not provide energy filling for the dwelling (hence the fact that the gods will not see the dwelling and the brownie will not look after it).
A sleeping tree, even on a full moon, is fueled by the energy of the moon, which is why it was impossible to disturb the tree at that time.
Even in the spring, they looked out for and chose those trees that could be taken for construction in winter
The trees that woke up in the spring have already drunk the juice of the mother of the Raw Earth, that is, they are alive.
They asked for forgiveness near the trees under the log house and brought them gifts and treats.
They chopped in the winter in the last quarter of the moon - closer to the new moon and on the new moon.
Along with cutting trees, the future owner should not forget about collecting moss to insulate the building and caulk the cracks. The process of collecting moss was also associated with omens. The homeowner had to pick up piles of moss every day and leave them for a week. On the last day, it was necessary to look under which of the piles there were no bugs and worms; on that day, the moss should have been harvested. Also, the gaps between the logs were caulked with hemp tow.
Many secrets of building dwellings from logs are still alive, and wooden huts, real masterpieces of folk craftsmen, continue to delight the eye today! In the next article, we will consider with you how the huts were built, how the construction began and how it ended.
Both the house and the chapel are all made of wood.
Russia has long been considered a country of wood: there were plenty of vast, mighty forests around. Rusichi, as historians note, lived for centuries in the "wooden age". Frames and residential buildings, baths and barns, bridges and fences, gates and wells were built from wood. And the most common name of the Russian settlement - the village - said that the houses and buildings here were made of wood. Almost universal availability, simplicity and ease of processing, relative cheapness, strength, good thermal properties, as well as the rich artistic and expressive possibilities of wood brought this natural material to the forefront in the construction of residential buildings. Far from the last role was played here by the fact that wooden buildings could be erected in a fairly short time. High-speed wood construction in Russia was generally highly developed, which indicates a high level of organization of carpentry. It is known, for example, that even churches, the largest buildings in Russian villages, were sometimes erected "in one day", which is why they were called ordinary.
In addition, log houses could be easily dismantled, transported over a considerable distance and put back in a new place. In the cities there were even special markets where prefabricated log cabins and entire wooden houses with all interior decoration were sold "for export". In winter, such houses were shipped straight "from the sleigh" disassembled, and it took no more than two days to assemble and caulk. By the way, all the necessary building elements and details of log houses were sold right there, on the market here you could buy pine logs for a residential log house (the so-called "mansion"), and squared beams, and solid roofing boards, and various boards " dining rooms", "shop", for sheathing the "inside" of the hut, as well as "beams", piles, door decks. There were also household items on the market, with which the interior of a peasant hut was usually saturated: simple rustic furniture, tubs, boxes, small "wood chips" down to the smallest wooden spoon.
However, with all the positive qualities of wood, one of its very serious drawbacks - susceptibility to decay - made wooden structures relatively short-lived. Together with fires, a real scourge of wooden buildings, it significantly reduced the life of a log house - a rare hut stood for more than a hundred years. That is why coniferous species pine and spruce have found the greatest use in housing construction, the resinousness and density of wood of which provided the necessary resistance to decay. At the same time, in the North, larch was also used to build a house, and in a number of regions of Siberia, a log house was assembled from durable and dense larch, while all the interior decoration was made from Siberian cedar.
And yet, the most common material for housing construction was pine, in particular, upland pine or, as it was also called, "kondovaya". The log from it is heavy, straight, almost without knots and, according to the assurances of master carpenters, "does not hold damp." In one of the orderly records for the construction of housing, concluded in the old days between the owner-customer and the carpenters (and the word "orderly" comes from the Old Russian "row" contract), it was quite clearly emphasized: "... carve a forest of pine, kind, vigorous , smooth, not knotty ... "
Timber was usually harvested in winter or early spring, while "the tree is sleeping and excess water has gone into the ground", while it is still possible to take out the logs by sledge. Interestingly, even now experts recommend logging for log houses in winter, when the wood is less susceptible to shrinkage, decay and warping. The material for the construction of housing was prepared either by the future owners themselves, or by hired master carpenters in accordance with the necessary need "as much as needed", as noted in one of the orders. In the case of "self-procurement" this was done with the involvement of relatives and neighbors. Such a custom, which has existed since ancient times in Russian villages, was called "help" ("cleaning"). The whole village usually gathered for the cleaning. This was reflected in the proverb: "Whoever called for help, he himself go."
They selected the trees very carefully, in a row, indiscriminately, they did not cut down, they took care of the forest. There was even such a sign: if you did not like three forests from the arrival in the forest, do not cut at all that day. There were also specific bans on logging associated with popular beliefs that were strictly enforced. For example, it was considered a sin to cut down trees in "sacred" groves, usually associated with a church or a cemetery; it was impossible to cut down old trees - they had to die their own, natural death. In addition, trees grown by man were not suitable for construction, it was impossible to use a tree that fell during felling "at midnight", that is, to the north, or hung in the crowns of other trees - it was believed that serious troubles and illnesses awaited residents in such a house and even death.
Logs for the construction of a log house were usually selected with a thickness of about eight inches in diameter (35 cm), and for the lower crowns of a log house - even thicker ones, up to ten inches (44 cm). Often the contract stated: "but do not put less than seven inches." We note in passing that today the recommended diameter of a log for a chopped wall is 22 cm. The logs were taken to the village and piled into "bonfires", where they lay until spring, after which the trunks were sanded, that is, removed, scraped off the thawed bark with a plow or a long scraper, which was an arcuate blade with two handles.
Tools of Russian carpenters:
1 - wood ax,
2 - potyos,
3 - carpenter's ax.
Various types of axes were used in the processing of building timber. So, when felling trees, a special wood-cutting ax with a narrow blade was used, for further work, a carpenter's ax with a wide oval blade and the so-called "potes". In general, possession of an ax was mandatory for every peasant. "The ax is the head of the whole thing," they said among the people. Without an ax, wonderful monuments of folk architecture would not have been created: wooden churches, bell towers, mills, huts. Without this simple and versatile tool, many tools of peasant labor, details of rural life, and familiar household items would not have appeared. The ability to carpentry (that is, to "rally" logs in a building) from a ubiquitous and necessary craft in Russia turned into a true art - carpentry.
In the Russian chronicles we find not quite usual combinations - "cut down the church", "cut down the mansions". Yes, and carpenters were often called "cutters". And the point here is that in the old days they did not build houses, but "chopped", doing without saws and nails. Although the saw has been known in Russia since ancient times, it was usually not used in the construction of a house - sawn logs and boards absorb moisture much more quickly and easily than chopped and hewn ones. The master builders did not sawn, but chopped off the ends of the logs with an ax, because the sawn logs are “pulled by the wind” - they crack, which means they break down faster. In addition, when processing with an ax, the log from the ends seems to be "clogged" and rots less. The boards were made by hand from logs - at the end of the log and along its entire length, notches were marked, wedges were driven into them and split into two halves, from which wide boards were hewn - "tesnitsa". For this, a special ax with a wide blade and a one-sided cut was used - "potes". In general, the carpentry toolkit was quite extensive - here, along with axes and staples, there were special "adzes" for choosing grooves, chisels and clearings for punching holes in logs and beams, "features" for drawing parallel lines.
When hiring carpenters to build a house, the owners specified in detail the most important requirements for future construction, which was scrupulously noted in the contract. First of all, the necessary qualities of the scaffolding, its diameter, processing methods, as well as the timing of the start of construction were recorded here. Then a detailed description of the house to be built was given, the space-planning structure of the dwelling was highlighted, and the dimensions of the main premises were regulated. “Put me a new hut,” it is written in an old order, four fathoms without an elbow and with corners, that is, about six and a quarter meters, chopped “in the oblo”, with the rest. Since drawings were not made during the construction of the house, in the construction contracts the vertical dimensions of the dwelling and its individual parts were determined by the number of logs-crowns laid in the log house - "and twenty-three rows up to the hens." The horizontal dimensions were regulated by the most commonly used long log - usually it was about three fathoms "between the corners" - about six and a half meters. Often in order, information was even given about individual architectural and structural elements and details: "to make doors on the jambs and windows on the jambs, as much as the owner orders to do." Sometimes samples, analogues, examples from the immediate environment were directly named, focusing on which the craftsmen had to do their work: ".. and make those upper rooms and the vestibule, and the porch, like Ivan Olferyev's small upper rooms were made at the gate." The whole document often ended with a recommendation of a disciplinary order, instructing the craftsmen not to quit work until it was completely completed, not to postpone or delay the construction that had begun: "And do not leave until the completion of that good work."
The beginning of the construction of a dwelling in Russia was associated with certain terms regulated by special rules. It was considered best to start building a house during Great Lent (early spring) and so that the construction process included the Trinity holiday in terms of time; remember the proverb: "Without the Trinity, a house is not built." It was impossible to start construction on the so-called "hard days" - on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and also on Sunday. Favorable for the start of construction was considered the time, "when the month is filled" after the new moon.
The erection of the house was preceded by special and rather solemnly formalized rituals, in which the most important earthly and heavenly phenomena were reflected, the most important for the peasant, the forces of nature acted in a symbolic form, various "local" deities were present. According to an old custom, when laying a house, money was put in the corners "to live richly," and inside the log house, in its middle or in the "red" corner, they put a freshly cut tree (birch, mountain ash or Christmas tree) and often hung an icon on it. This tree personified the "world tree", known to almost all peoples and ritually marking the "center of the world", symbolizing the idea of growth, development, connection of the past (roots), present (trunk) and future (crown). It remained in the log house until the completion of construction. Another interesting custom is associated with the designation of the corners of the future dwelling: in the supposed four corners of the hut, the owner poured four heaps of grain in the evening, and if the next morning the grain turned out to be untouched, the place chosen for building the house was considered good. If someone disturbed the grain, then they were usually wary of building on such a "doubtful" place.
Throughout the construction of the house, another custom, very ruinous for future owners, was strictly observed, which, unfortunately, has not gone into the past and today is quite frequent and plentiful "treat" of carpenters building a house in order to "appease" them. The construction process was repeatedly interrupted by "hand", "stowing", "mat", "rafter" and other feasts. Otherwise, the carpenters could be offended and do something wrong, or even just "play a joke" - lay out the log house in such a way that "it will buzz in the walls."
The structural basis of the log house was a four-sided log cabin, which consisted of logs - "crowns" horizontally stacked on top of each other. An important feature of this design is that during its natural shrinkage and subsequent settlement, the gaps between the crowns disappeared, the wall became more dense and monolithic. To ensure the horizontality of the log crowns, the logs were stacked in such a way that the butt ends alternated with the top ends, that is, thicker ones with thinner ones. In order for the crowns to fit well to each other, a longitudinal groove was selected in each of the adjacent logs. In the old days, the groove was made in the lower log, on its upper side, but since with this solution water got into the recess and the log quickly rotted, they began to make a groove on the lower side of the log. This technique has been preserved to this day.
a - "in oblo" with cups in the lower logs
b - "in oblo" with cups in the upper logs
In the corners, the log house was connected with special cuts with original log "locks". Experts say that there were several dozen types and variants of cuttings in Russian wooden architecture. The most commonly used fellings were "in oblo" and "in the paw". When cutting "into a cloud" (that is, rounded) or "into a simple corner", the logs were connected in such a way that their ends protruded outward, beyond the limits of the log house, forming the so-called "remainder", which is why this technique was also called cutting with the remainder. The protruding ends well protected the corners of the hut from freezing. This method, one of the most ancient, was also called cutting "into a bowl", or "into a cup", since special recesses of the "cup" were chosen to fasten the logs in them. In the old days, cups, as well as longitudinal grooves in logs, were cut down in the underlying log - this is the so-called "cutting into the lining", but later they began to use a more rational method with cutting in the upper log "in the overlay", or "in the hood", which is not allowed moisture to linger in the "castle" of the log house. Each cup was fitted exactly to the shape of the log it came into contact with. This was necessary to ensure the tightness of the most important and most vulnerable to water and cold nodes of the log house - its corners.
Another common method of cutting "in the paw", without a trace, made it possible to increase the horizontal dimensions of the log house, and with them the area of \u200b\u200bthe hut, in comparison with cutting "in the open", since here the "lock" fastening the crowns was made at the very end of the log . However, it was more complicated in execution, it required highly qualified carpenters, and therefore it was more expensive than traditional felling with the release of the ends of the "corner" logs. For this reason, and also due to the fact that cutting "in the field" took less time, the vast majority of peasant houses in Russia were cut in this way.
The lower, "collar" crown was often placed directly on the ground. In order for this initial crown - "lower" - to be less prone to decay, and also in order to create a solid and reliable foundation for the house, thicker and more resinous logs were selected for it. For example, in Siberia, larch was used for the lower rims - a very dense and fairly durable wood material.
Often, large boulder stones were placed under the corners and middles of the embedded crowns, or cut pieces of thick logs - “chairs” were dug into the ground, which were treated with resin or burned to protect against decay. Sometimes for this purpose thick chopping blocks or "paws" were used - uprooted stumps placed down by the roots. During the construction of a residential hut, they tried to lay the "salary" logs so that the lower crown was tightly adjacent to the ground, often "for warmth" it was even lightly sprinkled with earth. After the completion of the "hut salary" - laying the first crown, they began to assemble the house "on the moss", in which the grooves of the log house for greater tightness were laid with a "mokrishnik" torn in the lowlands and dried with swamp moss - this was called "suede" log house. It happened that for greater strength, the moss was "twisted" with tows - combed out fibers of flax and hemp. But since, when drying, the moss nevertheless crumbled, at a later time they began to use tow for this purpose. And now, experts recommend caulking the seams between the logs of a log house with tow for the first time during the construction process and then again, in a year and a half, when the final shrinkage of the log house occurs.
Under the residential part of the house, either a low underground was arranged, or the so-called "basement" or "podyzbitsa" - the basement, which differed from the underground in that it was rather high, did not go deep, as a rule, into the ground and had a direct exit to the outside through a low door. Putting the hut on the basement, the owner protected it from the cold coming from the ground, protected the residential part and the entrance to the house from snow drifts in winter and spring floods, created additional utility and utility rooms right under the dwelling. A pantry was usually arranged in the basement, often it served as a cellar. Other utility rooms were also equipped in the basement, for example, in areas where handicrafts were developed, a small workshop could be located in the basement. They also kept small livestock or poultry in the basement. Sometimes the podyzbitsa was also used for housing. There were even two-story, or "double-lived" huts for two "living". But still, in the vast majority of cases, the basement was a non-residential, utility floor, and they lived in a dry and warm "top", raised above the cold, damp earth. This method of setting the residential part of the house on a high basement was most widespread in the northern regions, where very harsh climatic conditions required additional insulation of residential premises and reliable and isolation from frozen ground, while in the middle lane, a low and convenient underground was more often arranged.
Having completed the equipment of the basement or underground, work began on the installation of the floor of the hut. To do this, first of all, "crossbeams" were cut into the walls of the house - rather powerful beams on which the floor rested. As a rule, they were made four or less often three, parallel to the main facade of the hut, two near the walls and two or one in the middle. To keep the floor warm and not blown, it was made double. The so-called "black" floor was laid directly on the beams, collecting it from a thick slab with humps up, or log rolling, and covered "for warmth" with a layer of earth. From above, a clean floor was laid from wide boards.
Moreover, such a double, insulated floor was made, as a rule, over a cold basement-basement, a sub-basement, and a regular, single floor was arranged above the underground, which contributed to the penetration of heat from the living quarters into the underground, where vegetables and various products were stored. The boards of the upper, "clean" floor were tightly fitted to each other. 
Male Roof Construction:
1 - chill (with a helmet)
2 - towel (anemone)
3 - prichelina
4 - ochelie
5 - red window
6 - drag window
7 - thread
8 - chicken
9 - slightly
10 - tes
Usually the floorboards were laid along the window entrance line, from the entrance door to the living room to the main facade of the hut, explaining that with this arrangement, the floor boards are less destroyed, less chipped at the edges and last longer than with a different layout. In addition, according to the peasants, such a floor is more convenient for revenge.
The number of interfloor ceilings - "bridges" in the house being built was determined even in order: "... yes, in the same upper rooms, lay three bridges inside." The laying of the walls of the hut was completed by installation at the height where they were going to make the ceiling of the "skull" or "underpressure" crown, in which they cut the ceiling beam - the "matitsa". Her location was also often noted in regular records: "and put that hut on the seventeenth matitsa."
The strength and reliability of the foundation matrix - the foundation of the ceiling - was given great importance. The people even said: "A thin uterus to everything - a house of confusion." The installation of the mat was a very important moment in the process of building a house; it ended with the assembly of the log house, after which the construction entered the final phase. Laying the floor and installing the roof. That is why the laying of the mother was accompanied by special rituals and the next "mat" treat for carpenters. Often, the carpenters themselves reminded the "forgetful" owners of this: when setting up the mother, they shouted: "The uterus is cracking, it does not go," and the owners were given to arrange a feast. Sometimes, raising the mother, a pie baked for the occasion was tied to it.
The matitsa was a powerful tetrahedral beam, on which "ceilings" of thick boards or "humpbacks" were laid, placed flat down. In order to prevent the matrix from bending under its weight, its lower side was often cut off along a curve. It is curious that this technique is still used today in the construction of log houses - this is called "carve out a building rise". Having finished laying the ceiling - "ceilings", they tied the frame under the roof, laying "cold" or "cool" logs on top of the cranial crown, with which the ceilings were fixed.
In the Russian folk dwelling, functional, practical and artistic issues were closely interconnected, one complemented and followed from the other. The fusion of "utility" and "beauty" in the house, the inseparability of constructive and architectural and artistic solutions manifested themselves with particular force in the organization of the completion of the hut. By the way, it was at the end of the house that folk craftsmen saw the main and main beauty of the entire building. The design and decoration of the roof of a peasant house still amaze with the unity of practical and aesthetic aspects.
Surprisingly simple, logical and artistically expressive is the design of the so-called nail-free male roof - one of the oldest, most widely used in the northern regions of Russia. It was supported by the log pediments of the end walls of the house - "recesses". After the upper, "thick" crown of the log house, the logs of the main and rear facades of the hut gradually shortened, rising to the very top of the ridge. These logs were called "males" because they stood "on their own". Long log slabs were cut into the triangles of the opposite pediments of the house, which were the base of the roof "lattice". The tops of the pediments were connected by the main, "princely" slab, which was the completion of the entire structure of the gable roof.
Natural hooks - "hens" - uprooted and hewn trunks of young spruce trees were attached to the lower slabs. They were called "hens" because the craftsmen gave their bent ends the shape of bird heads. The chickens supported special gutters for draining water "streams", or "water outlets" - logs hollowed out along the entire length. They rested against the clefts of the roof, which were laid on the slabs-purlins. Usually the roof was double, with a lining of birch bark - "rocks", which well protected against moisture penetration.
In the ridge of the roof, on the upper ends of the roofing notches, they “slammed down” with a “shell” - a massive trough-shaped log, the end of which went out onto the main facade, crowning the entire building. This heavy log, also called "okhlupny" (from the ancient name of the roof "okhlup"), pinched the gaps, keeping them from being blown away by the wind. The front, butt end of the okhlupny was usually designed in the form of a horse's head (hence the "horse") or, less often, a bird. In the most northern regions, the helmet was sometimes given the shape of a deer's head, often placing genuine deer antlers on it. Thanks to their developed plasticity, these sculptural images were well "read" against the sky and were visible from afar.
To maintain a wide roof overhang from the side of the main facade of the hut, an interesting and ingenious constructive technique was used - a consistent lengthening of the ends of the logs of the upper crowns extending beyond the frame. In this case, powerful brackets were obtained, on which the front part of the roof rested. Protruding far ahead of the log wall of the house, such a roof reliably protected the crowns of the log house from rain and snow. The brackets that supported the roof were called "releases", "helps" or "falls". Usually, a porch was arranged on the same outlet brackets, bypass galleries - "amusements" were laid, balconies were equipped. Powerful log outlets, decorated with laconic carvings, enriched the austere appearance of the peasant house, giving it even greater monumentality.
In the new, later type of Russian peasant dwelling, which became widespread mainly in the regions of the middle zone, the roof already had a covering on the rafters, while the log pediment with males was replaced by a plank filling. With such a decision, a sharp transition from the plastically saturated rough-textured surface of a log cabin to a flat and smooth plank pediment, being tectonically quite justified, nevertheless did not look compositionally inexpressive, and master carpenters planted to cover it with a rather wide frontal board, richly decorated with carved ornaments. Subsequently, a frieze developed from this board, which went around the entire building. It should be noted, however, that even in this type of peasant house, some of the earlier structures were preserved for a long time - brackets-outlets, decorated with simple carvings, and carved porches with "towels". This determined mainly the repetition of the traditional pattern of distribution of carved decorative decoration on the main facade of the dwelling.
Erecting a log house, creating a traditional hut, Russian master carpenters for centuries discovered, mastered and improved specific woodworking techniques, gradually developed strong, reliable and artistically expressive architectural and structural units, original and unique details. At the same time, they fully used the positive qualities of wood, skillfully revealing and revealing its unique capabilities in their buildings, emphasizing its natural origin in every possible way. This further contributed to the consistent entry of buildings into the natural environment, the harmonious merging of man-made structures with pristine, untouched nature.
The main elements of the Russian hut are surprisingly simple and organic, their shape is logical and beautifully “drawn”, they accurately and fully express the “work” of a wooden log, log house, roof of a house. Benefit and beauty merge here into a single and indivisible whole. The expediency, the practical necessity of any made, is clearly expressed in their strict plasticity, laconic decor, in the general structural completeness of the entire building.
Ingenuously and truthfully, the general constructive solution of a peasant house is a powerful and reliable log wall; large, solid cuts in the corners; small, decorated with platbands and shutters, windows; a wide roof with an intricate ridge and carved piers, and also a porch and a balcony, it would seem, that's all. But how much hidden tension is in this simple construction, how much strength is in the tight joints of the logs, how tightly they "hold" each other! For centuries, this orderly simplicity has been isolated, crystallized, this only possible structure, reliable and captivating with its skeptical purity of line and forms, harmonious and close to the surrounding nature.
Calm confidence emanates from simple Russian huts, they have firmly and thoroughly settled in their native land. When looking at the buildings darkened from time to time, the old Russian villages do not leave the feeling that they, once created by man and for man, live at the same time some kind of their own, separate life, closely connected with the life of the nature surrounding them - they are so akin to that place where they were born. The living warmth of their walls, the laconic silhouette, the strict monumentality of proportionate relations, some kind of "unartificiality" of their entire appearance make these buildings an integral and organic part of the surrounding forests and fields, of everything that we call Russia.
I am reading now about the art and architecture of Ancient Egypt. You know me, I always get into the little things and in particular, questions always arise: “How?” Yes, what it's made of. I watched several films about temples and pyramids, everything is clear with this: perfectly even blocks carved from stone, unfortunate builders with osteoarthritis, possible alien intervention and all that. But how did ordinary Egyptians live?
The picture above is actually a screenshot, you can watch the video here
But they just lived very closely. The houses were built of raw brick, which was molded from what the annually flooding Nile brought: a mixture of silt and clay.
Such bricks were used to build houses in ancient Egypt.
The area of the house could be 6-10 square meters (like my kitchen). True, they only slept in the house and made children (apparently, right in front of existing children), spent the rest of the time at work or in the yard when dusk fell, moved to the roof, where they could sit, drink beer (this is a very respected class was in Egypt) and discuss the events of the day. It must be said that the dwelling of the pharaoh did not differ much from the "apartment" of the peasant.
Here you can clearly see the "anatomy" of the pyramids
The palaces were surprisingly small and cramped, although, of course, larger than those of the poor, but much smaller than temples and burial complexes. Wood was in short supply, so coastal clay completely solved the problem of building materials. Raw brick was short-lived, but cheap. Over time, it became limp or crumbled, so almost no dwellings of ordinary people have come down to us. In one program, I saw that archaeologists managed to study one house only because it ... burned down during a fire and was abandoned: the clay, under the influence of high temperature, sintered and acquired burnt properties, which allowed the walls covered with sand to “survive” to this day.
Reconstruction of the dwelling of the Egyptians
So the whole imperial scope was embodied in the "near-burial" architecture of the Egyptians: in pyramids and temples. They built them where there were rocky mountains closer, so as not to carry stone blocks far, but if it was necessary, they dragged them. In general, it is believed that mountains were the prototype of the pyramids. There was plenty of building stone—limestone, Aswan granite, porphyry, and shimmering alabaster.
Ancient image of brick making
So it turns out that the entire historical architecture of Egypt had a very indirect relation to the life of the Egyptians, its purpose was to please the gods, exalt the pharaoh and provide him with a luxurious afterlife. And it does not matter that it took a large part of the state budget.
House of the Modern Egyptian
Interestingly, in ancient Palestine, the dwellings of ordinary people were very similar to those in Egypt.
HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION
With Egypt, everything is clear, but how was it, for example, in the Harappan civilization, little known to us? These guys were more practical, architectural megalomania was not characteristic of them, and the building material was more reliable - baked brick.
Reconstruction of the Harappan city
It seems that it was some kind of semi-utopian civilization of universal prosperity and prosperity, so they took care of their citizens: they paved pavements, built artificial reservoirs, water supply and even sewerage was organized in the Harappan cities. True, from such luxury and comfort, citizens eventually got bored and degenerated. But if they would strain a little, building some kind of wall or pyramid, maybe they would love freedom more and hold on to their goodness.
Harappan buildings. Ruins of Mohejo-Daro
Raw bricks were also used, but much less frequently. The climate in ancient times on the territory of present-day India was once different, much wetter, although now it is not very dry, so the raw material quickly spread. Brickwork was fastened with mud mortar, which was taken from the banks of local rivers.
tower in Mohejo-Daro
Lime was rarely used, only in the lower rows of masonry, the silt mortar was not very strong, did not freeze "tightly", so if necessary, the building could be easily dismantled and the brick reused. Interestingly, the Harappan builders used several different building techniques, that is, they were very "advanced" for their time. In addition to the city walls and gates, nothing gigantic from the Harappas (or whatever they are) is left. There was nothing, there was nothing for the rulers to occupy the people with!
CHINA
But this message reached the Chinese rulers in time. They just occupied their citizens with such useful activities as the construction of the Great Wall of China, while the dwellings of the Chinese were very modest. Especially compared to the Wall, which is quite visible even from space. The total length of the wall exceeds 5 thousand km. The walls are laid out in two rows, the outer parts are made of stone and brick, and inside the wall is stuffed with rammed clay, the total volume of which is about 180 million square meters. m.
The great Wall of China. View from space
If we talk about Chinese dwellings, then the dwelling of the emperors looked not like a giant palace, but like a settlement of wealthy peasants - for example, they covered it with foil a little for force and surrounded it with a wall. Beautiful and rather large buildings began to be erected relatively recently, in recent centuries. It must be said that both the Chinese Wall and the walls of the palaces had a very utilitarian meaning - defensive. The empire constantly suffered from the invasions of barbarian tribes from the North, and China itself was constantly torn apart by internal conflicts, so there is no way without walls.
Reconstruction of the ancient Chinese city of Linzi, 7th century BC
Beautiful Chinese palaces and temples with curved roofs are an echo of those times when all buildings were wooden, then they were built just like that. In general, it is quite difficult to talk about some kind of unified architecture in China - the country is huge, with a heterogeneous relief, and lies in several climatic zones at once. What was at hand, they built from that: from bamboo huts on stilts in the water to caves in the rocks.
Reconstruction-museum of an ancient Chinese dwelling
It must be said that not only Harappan citizens were so literate that they invented water supply. He was also in China, the Chinese used bamboo pipes to supply water. The plumbing was in ancient Egypt and in Rome, and in the latter it was very perfect.
Modern dwelling of a poor Chinese peasant in a deep province
Ancient cave city in China
How everything resonates - the cave city in Petra, Jordan
... And yet - a cave city in Chufut-Kale in the Crimea
BABYLON
Babylonian Gate of the Goddess Ishtar at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin
Let's get back to the brick. The baked brick was also used by the Babylonians. They also made great progress in the art of facing buildings. Everyone knows their beautiful images on a blue background, lined with elegant glazed tiles. We also know about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, although we can hardly imagine what it really was.
The current ideas about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are very different: from quite traditional options ...
...To the very unexpected. This is not a reconstruction, but a very real building in modern Japan.
It is clear that "Glory to Ishtar!" - this is sacred, but how did ordinary Babylonians live, those who built the tower to the very sky, built it, but did not complete it? Judging by the materials of the excavations, they lived closely and not particularly luxuriously. Like the Egyptians, and the Chinese, and the Harrap guys.
Babylon
The ruins of Babylon, photo 1932
Hittites
We also forgot the Hittites. These were mainly built of stone, sometimes practically untreated, as they lived among the mountain ranges of Anatolia, there were even heaps of stone there. However, in the city of Karchemysh (XX-VIII centuries BC), buildings were also found from the same raw brick, though on stone foundations. The Hittites did not build large temples and tombs, but still some Cyclopean structures remained from them. For example, the famous Lion's Gate. The fortress walls and towers were also very massive - it was necessary to defend themselves from restless neighbors. The stone blocks used for the walls were just huge!
Lion's Gate in the capital of the Hittites, Hattusa.
For the construction of residential premises, a medium-sized stone and the mentioned brick were used, outside all this beauty was coated with clay. Housing, as you may have guessed, like other peoples, was usually quite small.
Ruins and partial reconstruction of Hattusa
Hattus. Reconstruction.
So, it seems that all peoples lived the same way: in small houses without amenities and a TV set, and in the historical memory of civilization, buildings "for protection" and "for an idea" were imprinted. This topic is far from exhausted, so then we will continue somehow.
