The project of the Great Lavra Bell Tower created by architect Fedir Vasyliev

Did you know that the project of the Great Lavra Bell Tower created by architect Fedir Vasyliev had much in common with the project implemented by his successor Johann-Gottfried Schedel?

Fedir Vasyliev was known for his architectural designs in St. Petersburg. For example, large mansions of Chief Prosecutor Pavlo Yaguzhynsky and state figure Oleksii Bestuzhev, demolished as long ago as late 18^th century, were built according to his projects. The drawings of these projects have been preserved and are kept in the archives.

At the beginning of 1720, the architect arrived in Kyiv with his son. Under the contract, he had to be paid 300 rubles per year and given other allowance. The Bell Tower was planned to be built as a five-tiered construction with tiers marked by architectural orders, such as: Dorian – for the first tier, Ionian –for the second tier, Corinthian – for the third tier, and Composite –for the fourth tier. The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was planned to be built on the second tier of the Bell Tower.

According to F. Vasyliev’s drawings, the total height of the construction was to be 216 feet (66 m). It had to be erected from white stone (which, if it had been bought, would have cost 1600 rubles). The estimated amount for the construction was set at 967,144 rubles. In addition, the architect made the “outlines of the Bell Tower construction depending on the large or small amount of money” (maximum and minimum funding) needed for the building process. Later on, J.-G. Schedel incorporated a lot of architectural details from Vasyliev’s project into his own one. Among them there were the classical order system, the rustication of the walls of the lower floors, the shape of doors and windows, and the modeling of sculptural elements. At the same time, some details were left completely unchanged. Among them there were double-headed eagles in cartouches (absolutely similar to those that decorated Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Bell Tower) and attic design. After F. Vasyliev’s departure from Kyiv, Lavra repeatedly stated that it would love to erect a “pillar-shaped” Bell Tower using the existing drawings.

Caption to the illustration:

1. Drawings of the Great Lavra Bell Tower. Author – F. Vasyliev. 1720–1721

Hanna Filipova