Hut with a stove. External and internal decoration of the Russian hut

The Russian hut symbolizes Russia in a small way. Its architecture represents the endurance of traditions that have come down to us thanks to the peasants' faithfulness to the precepts of the past. Over the course of several centuries, the style, layout and decor of the Russian hut were developed. The interior of all houses is practically no different; it contains several elements: several living rooms, a vestibule, a closet and an upper room, as well as a terrace.

Izba in Russia: history

The hut is a wooden structure, which goes underground up to a third of its part, reminiscent of a semi-dugout. Those houses where there was chimney, were called chickens. The smoke from the stove went out into the street through entrance doors, therefore, during the heating, it hung above the ceiling. To prevent soot from falling on people, special shelves were built around the entire perimeter of the walls. A little later, they began to make holes in the wall, and then in the ceiling, which was closed by a bolt. D ekor of the Russian hut the smoker was unremarkable. There were no floors as such, they were earthen, the house also had no windows, there were only small windows for lighting. At night, they used a torch to illuminate the room. After several centuries, white huts began to appear, in which there were ovens with chimneys. It is such a house that is considered a classic Russian hut. It was divided into several zones: the stove corner, separated from the others by a curtain, was located on the right at the entrance, and the corner was for women, and near the hearth for men. WITH east side horizon, the so-called red corner was located in the house, where the iconostasis was placed in a certain order on a special shelf under the embroidered towels.

Interior decoration

The ceiling in the house was made of poles, which were previously split in half. Beams were laid out on a powerful beam, the cracks were covered with clay. Earth was poured over the ceiling. A cradle was suspended from a beam on a special ring. Such inside was supposed to be cladding interior walls linden boards. Benches were placed near the walls, where they slept, and chests, where things were stored. Shelves were nailed to the walls. There was no particular luxury inside the hut. Every thing that could be seen there was needed in the household, there was nothing superfluous. In the women's corner, the items necessary for cooking were placed, and there was also a spinning wheel.

Decor elements of the Russian hut

Everything in the huts shone with cleanliness. Embroidered towels were hung on the walls. Furniture was scarce; beds and wardrobes did not appear until the nineteenth century. The main element was the dining table, which was located in the red corner. Each family member always sat down in his place, the owner sat under the icons. They did not cover the table with a tablecloth, and no decorations were hung on the walls. On holidays, the hut was transformed, the table was moved to the middle of the room, covered with a tablecloth, festive dishes were put on the shelves. Another decorative element was a large chest, which was in every hut. Clothes were kept in it. It was made of wood, upholstered with strips of iron and had a large castle. Also, the decor of the Russian hut assumed the presence of benches where they slept, and for babies, which was passed on from generation to generation.

Threshold and canopy

The first thing they encountered when they entered the hut was the vestibule, which was a room between the street and the heated room. They were very cold and were used for household purposes. There was a rocker and other necessary items. They also stored food in this place. A high threshold was built in front of the entrance to the warm room, where the guest had to bow to the owners of the house. Over time, the bow was supplemented by the sign of the cross in front of the icons.

Russian stove

When we got to the main room, the first thing we noticed was the oven. So, it assumes the presence of such a main element as a Russian stove, without which the room was considered uninhabited. They also cooked food on it, burned garbage in it. It was massive and kept warm for a long time, it had several smoke dampers. There were many shelves and niches for storing dishes and other household items. For cooking, they used cast iron, which were placed in the oven with the help of stags, as well as frying pans, clay pots and jugs. There was a samovar here. Since the stove was in the center of the room, it heated the house evenly. A couch was placed on it, which could accommodate up to six people. Sometimes the structure was so large that people could wash in it.

Red corner

An integral part of the interior decor of the hut was considered to be located in the eastern part of the house. It was considered a sacred place; embroidered towels, icons, holy books, candles, holy water, an Easter egg and so on were placed here. There was a table under the icons where they took food, there was always bread on it. The icons symbolized the altar Orthodox church and the table is a church throne. The most honored guests were received here. Of the icons in each hut, the images of the Mother of God, the Savior and Nicholas the Pleasant were obligatory. The headboards were facing the red corner. In this place, many rituals were performed that are associated with birth, wedding or funeral.

Stores and chests

The chest was also important element decor. It was inherited from mother to daughter and was placed near the stove. All the decoration of the house was very harmonious. There were several types of shops here: long, short, carnival, ship and the so-called beggars. They housed various subjects for household purposes, and an uninvited guest or a beggar who entered the house without invitation could sit down on the "beggar" shop. The stalls symbolized the road in many of the old rites.

Thus, we see a cozy Russian hut, unity of design and decor which is a wonderful creation created by a peasant. There was nothing superfluous in the house, all interior items were used in Everyday life owners. On holidays, the hut was transformed, it was decorated with hand-made items: embroidered towels, woven tablecloths and many others. This must be remembered if you need to bring a drawing on this topic to school. In the 5th grade on the fine arts "decor of the Russian hut" - one of the tasks provided for in the program.

People arranged their huts, comparing them to the world order. Here, every corner and detail is filled with a special meaning, they show the relationship of a person with the outside world.

Do not give a hand through the threshold, close the windows at night, do not knock on the table - "the table of God's hand", do not spit on the fire (oven) - these and many other rules set behavior in the house. - a microcosm in a macrocosm, one's own, opposing someone else's.

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A person equips his dwelling, likening it to the world order, therefore, every corner, every detail is filled with meaning, demonstrates the relationship of a person with the world around him.

1.Doors

2. Furnace

3. Red corner

4. Table

5. Stores

6. Matitsa

7. Windows

A source

The hut was the main living quarters of the Russian house. Its interior was distinguished by strict, long-established forms, simplicity and expedient arrangement of objects. Its walls, ceiling and floor, as a rule, were not painted or pasted over, had a pleasant warm color wood, light in new houses, dark in old ones.

The main place in the hut was occupied by a Russian stove. Depending on the local tradition, it stood to the right or left of the entrance, with its mouth to the side or front wall. This was convenient for the inhabitants of the house, since a warm stove blocked the path of cold air coming from the passage (only in the southern, central black earth zone of European Russia, the stove was located in the corner farthest from the entrance).

Diagonally from the stove, there was a table, over which hung a goddess with icons. Along the walls there were motionless benches, and above them shelves of the same width were cut into the walls - half-shelves. In the back of the hut, from the stove to the side wall, a wooden flooring was arranged under the ceiling. In the southern Russian regions, behind the side wall of the stove, there could be a wooden flooring for sleeping - a floor (platform). All this motionless furnishings of the hut were built by carpenters together with the house and was called a mansion outfit.

The space of the Russian hut was divided into parts that had their own specific purpose. The front corner with the goddess and the table was also called a large, red, saint: family meals were held here, prayer books, the Gospel, and the Psalter were read aloud. There were also beautiful dining utensils on the shelves. In houses where there was no upper room, the front corner was considered the front part of the hut, a place for receiving guests.

The space near the door and the stove was called the woman's corner, stove corner, middle corner, middle, middle. It was a place where women cooked food, did various jobs. There were pots and bowls on the shelves, and near the stove there were hooks, a poker, and a pomelo. The mythological consciousness of the people defined the stove corner as a dark, unclean place. In the hut there were, as it were, two sacred centers located diagonally: a Christian center and a pagan center, equally important for a peasant family.

Enough limited space The Russian hut was organized in such a way that it accommodated a family of seven to eight people with more or less convenience. This was achieved due to the fact that each family member knew his place in the common space. Men usually worked and rested during the day in the male half of the hut, which included a front corner with icons and a bench near the entrance. During the day, women and children were in the women's quarters near the stove.

Places to sleep were also strictly distributed: children, boys and girls slept on the beds; the owner with the hostess of the house - under the beds on a special flooring or bench, to which a wide bench was moved; old people on the stove or golbets. It was not supposed to break the order in the house without urgent need... The person who violates it was considered not knowing the commandments of the fathers. Organization interior space the hut was reflected in the wedding song:

Will I enter my parent's bright room,
I will pray in all four directions,
Another first bow to the front corner,
I will ask the Lord for a blessing,
White body - health,
Into the head of the mind-mind,
In white little hands,
To be able to please in someone else's family.
I'll give another bow to the middle corner,
For his bread for salt,
For a drink, for a nourishing woman,
For warm clothes.
And I will give the third bow to the warm corner
For his warmth,
For hardened embers,
The bricks are hot.
And on the last one I will bow
Kutnoy corner
For his soft bed,
Behind the downy head,
For a dream, for a sweet nap.

The hut was kept as clean as possible, which was most typical for northern and Siberian villages. The floors in the hut were washed once a week, and on Easter, Christmas, etc. patronal holidays not only the floor, but also the walls, ceiling, and benches were scraped with a hollow with sand. Russian peasants tried to decorate their hut. On weekdays, her decoration was rather modest: a towel on the shrine, homespun rugs on the floor.

On a holiday, the Russian hut was transformed, especially if the house did not have an upper room: the table was covered with a white tablecloth; towels embroidered or woven with colored patterns were hung on the walls, closer to the front corner, and on the windows; the shops and the chests in the house were covered with elegant paths. The interior of the room was somewhat different from the interior of the hut.

The upper room was the ceremonial room of the house and was not intended for permanent residence families. Accordingly, its interior space was decided differently - there were no beds and a sleeping platform in it, instead of a Russian stove there was a Dutch woman, tiled with tiles, adapted only for heating the room, the benches were covered with beautiful bedding, ceremonial dining utensils were placed on the half-stands, on the walls near the goddess there were popular prints pictures of religious and secular content and towels. For the rest, the mansion dress of the upper room repeated the immovable attire of the hut: in the corner farthest from the door, a shrine maiden with icons, along the walls of the shop, above them shelves, half-shelves, many chests, sometimes placed one on top of the other.

It is difficult to imagine a peasant house without numerous utensils that have been accumulating for decades, if not centuries, and literally flooding its space. Utensils are utensils for preparing, preparing and storing food, serving it on the table - pots, patches, tubs, crinkles, bowls, dishes, valleys, ladles2, crustaceans, etc .; all kinds of containers for picking berries and mushrooms - baskets, bodies, tues, etc .; various chests, chests, boxes for storing household items, clothes and cosmetic accessories; items for kindling a fire and interior lighting at home - flint, lights, candlesticks, and more. etc. All these are necessary for maintaining household more or less items were available in every peasant family.

Household utensils were comparatively the same throughout the entire area of ​​the settlement of the Russian people, which is explained by the common household way of life of the Russian peasants. Local variants of utensils were practically absent, or, in any case, were less obvious than in clothing and food. The differences were manifested only in the utensils served on the table on holidays. At the same time, the local originality found its expression not so much in the form of tableware as in its decorative design.

A characteristic feature of Russian peasant utensils was the abundance of local names for the same subject. Vessels of the same shape, uniform purpose, made of the same material, in the same way, were called in their own way in different provinces, counties, volosts and further villages. The name of the item changed depending on its use by a particular mistress: the pot in which the porridge was cooked was called "kashnik" in one house, the same pot used in another house for cooking the stew was called "puppy".

Utensils for the same purpose were called differently, but made of different material: a vessel made of clay - a pot, from cast iron - a cast iron, from copper - a coppersmith. The terminology often changed depending on the method of making the vessel: a cooper's vessel for pickling vegetables - a tub, hollowed out of wood - a dugout, made of clay - a pot. The interior decoration of the peasant house began to undergo noticeable changes in the last third of the 19th century. First of all, the changes affected the interior of the room, which was perceived by the Russians as a symbol of the wealth of the peasant family.

The owners of the rooms tried to furnish them with objects typical for the urban lifestyle: instead of benches, there were chairs, stools, canapels - sofas with lattice or blank backs, instead of an old table with a base - an urban table covered with a "fillet" tablecloth. A chest of drawers has become an indispensable accessory for the room. drawers, a slide for festive dishes and an elegantly decorated bed with a large number of pillows, and near the goddess there were photographs of relatives and a clock-walker hanging in frames.

After a while, the innovations also touched the hut: wooden partition separated the stove from the rest of the space, objects of urban life began to actively displace traditional fixed furniture. So, Polati gradually replaced the bed. In the first decade of the XX century. the decoration of the hut was replenished with cupboards, cupboards, mirrors and small sculptures. The traditional set of utensils lasted much longer, up to the 30s. XX century, which was explained by the stability of the peasant way of life, the functionality of household items. The only exception was the festive dining room, or rather, tea utensils: from the second half of the 19th century. in the peasant house, along with the samovar, porcelain cups, saucers, sugar bowls, vases for jam, milk jugs, metal teaspoons appeared.

In prosperous families, individual plates, molds for jelly, glass glasses, glasses, glasses, bottles, etc. were used during festive meals. previous ideas about the interior decoration of the house and the gradual withering away of traditional everyday culture.

The secrets of the Russian hut and its mysteries, little wisdom and traditions, the basic rules in the construction of a Russian hut, signs, facts and the history of the emergence of the "hut on chicken legs" - everything is very brief.

It is generally accepted that the most environmentally friendly and human-friendly houses can only be built from wood. Wood is the oldest building material presented to us by the most perfect laboratory on Earth - Nature.

Indoors wooden structure air humidity is always optimal for human life. The unique structure of solid wood, consisting of capillaries, absorbs excess moisture from the air, and with excessive dryness, it gives it to the room.

Log houses have natural energy, create a special microclimate in the hut, and provide natural ventilation. From wooden walls emanates homeliness and peace, they protect in summer from heat, and in winter from frost. Wood retains heat well. Even in bitter frost, the walls of the log house are warm inside.

Anyone who has ever visited a real Russian hut will never forget its enchanting benevolent spirit: subtle notes of wood resin, the aroma of freshly baked bread from a Russian oven, spice medicinal herbs... Due to its properties, wood neutralizes heavy odors by ozonizing the air.

And not without reason that interest in wood construction arises again and grows with incredible speed, gaining more and more popularity.

So, little wisdom, secrets and secrets of the Russian hut!

The name of the Russian house "hut" comes from the ancient Russian "istba", which means "house, bathhouse" or "source" from the "Tale of Bygone Years ...". The Old Russian name for a wooden dwelling is rooted in the Proto-Slavic "jьstъba" and is considered to be borrowed from the Germanic "stuba". In ancient German, "stuba" meant "warm room, bath".

When building a new hut, our ancestors followed the rules developed over the centuries, because the construction of a new house is a significant event in the life of a peasant family and all traditions were observed to the smallest detail. One of the main precepts of the ancestors was the choice of a place for the future hut. A new hut should not be built on a place where there was once a cemetery, a road or a bathhouse. But at the same time, it was desirable that the place for the new house was already habitable, where people lived in complete well-being, in a bright and dry place.

The main tool in the construction of all Russian wooden structures was an ax. Hence they say not to build, but to cut down the house. The saw began to be used in late XVIII century, and in some places from the middle of the XIX century.

Initially (up to the 10th century) the hut was a log structure, partly (up to a third) sinking into the ground. That is, a recess was dug out and above it was completed in 3-4 rows of thick logs. Thus, the hut itself was a semi-dugout.

Initially, there was no door, it was replaced by a small entrance opening, about 0.9 meters by 1 meter, covered by a pair of log halves tied together and a canopy.

The main requirement for the building material was customary - the log house was either cut from pine, spruce or larch. Trunk conifers was tall, slender, amenable to handling with an ax and at the same time was strong, walls made of pine, spruce or larch kept warm well in the house in winter and did not heat up in summer, in the heat, keeping pleasant coolness. At the same time, the choice of a tree in the forest was governed by several rules. For example, it was impossible to cut down sick, old and dry trees that were considered dead and could, according to legends, bring illness into the house. It was impossible to cut down the trees that grew on the road and along the roads. Such trees were considered "violent" and in a frame such logs, according to legend, can fall out of the walls and crush the owners of the house.

The construction of the house was accompanied by a number of customs. During the laying of the first crown of the log house (mortgage), a coin or paper bill was placed under each corner, a piece of wool from a sheep or a small skein of woolen yarn was placed in another piece of wool, grain was poured into the third, and incense was placed under the fourth. Thus, at the very beginning of the construction of the hut, our ancestors performed such rituals for the future dwelling, which signified its wealth, family warmth, well-fed life and holiness in later life.

In the setting of the hut there is not a single superfluous random object, each thing has its own strictly defined purpose and a place illuminated by tradition, which is a characteristic feature of the people's dwelling.

The doors in the hut were made as low as possible, and the windows were placed higher. So less heat left the hut.

The Russian hut was either a "four-walled cage" (a simple cage) or a "five-wall cage" (a cage partitioned off by a wall inside - a "cut"). During the construction of the hut, the stands were attached to the main volume of the stand utility rooms("Porch", "canopy", "yard", "bridge" between the hut and the yard, etc.). In Russian lands, not spoiled by heat, they tried to put the whole complex of buildings together, to press them together.

There were three types of organization of the complex of buildings that made up the courtyard. A single large two-story house for several related families under one roof was called a "purse". If the utility rooms were attached to the side and the whole house took the form of the letter "G", then it was called a "verb". If the outbuildings were adjusted from the end of the main frame and the whole complex was stretched into a line, then they said that it was a "timber".

The porch of the hut was usually followed by a "canopy" (canopy is a shade, a shaded place). They were arranged so that the door did not open directly to the street, and the warmth in winter time did not go out of the hut. The front part of the building, together with the porch and the entryway, was called in ancient times "sprout".

If the hut was two-story, then the second floor was called "povetya" in outbuildings and "upper room" in the living quarters. The rooms above the second floor, where the maiden was usually located, were called "terem".

The house was rarely built by everyone for himself. Usually the whole world ("society") was invited to the construction. The forest was harvested back in winter, while there is no sap flow in the trees, and construction began in early spring. After the laying of the first crown of the log house, the first meal "pomochanam" ("salary treat") was arranged. Such treats are an echo of ancient ritual feasts, which often took place with sacrifices.

After the "salary treat" they began to arrange a log house. At the beginning of summer, after the laying of the ceiling matts, a new ritual treat for the pomochans followed. Then they proceeded to the installation of the roof. Having reached the top, having laid down the skate, they arranged a new, "ridge" meal. And after the completion of construction at the very beginning of autumn - a feast.

The cat should be the first to enter the new home. In the North of Russia, the cult of the cat is still preserved. In most northern houses, thick doors in the canopy have a hole for the cat at the bottom.

In the depths of the hut there was a hearth made of stones. There was no smoke outlet, in order to save heat, the smoke was kept in the room, and the excess was released through the inlet. Chicken huts probably contributed to the short life expectancy in the old days (about 30 years for men): the products of burning wood are substances that cause cancer.

The floors in the huts were earthen. Only with the spread in Russia of saws and sawmills in cities and in the houses of landowners began to appear wooden floors. Initially, the floors were laid from planks made of logs split in half, or from a massive thick floorboard. However, plank floors began to spread en masse only in the 18th century, since sawmill production was not developed. It was only through the efforts of Peter I that saws and sawmills began to spread in Russia with the publication of Peter's decree "On the training of woodcutters to cut firewood" in 1748. Until the twentieth century, the floors in the peasant hut were earthen, that is, the leveled land was simply trampled down. Sometimes the top layer was smeared with clay mixed with manure, which prevented the formation of cracks.

Logs for Russian huts were prepared from November-December, chopping down tree trunks in a circle and letting them dry on the vine (standing up) over the winter. The trees were chopped up and the logs were taken out even in the snow before the spring thaw. When cutting the cage, the logs were laid with the northern, denser side outward, so that the wood cracked less and better withstood the effects of the atmosphere. Coins, wool and incense were placed in the corners of the house along the construction so that its inhabitants lived healthy, prosperity and warmth.

Until the 9th century, there were no windows at all in Russian huts.

Until the 20th century, windows in Russian huts were not opened. We ventilated the hut through the door and the chimney (wooden ventilation tube on the roof). Shutters protected the huts from bad weather and dashing people. A shuttered window could serve as a "mirror" during the day.

In the old days, the shutters were single-leaf. There were no double frames in the old days either. In winter, for warmth, the windows were closed from the outside with straw mats or simply heaped up with heaps of straw.

Numerous patterns of the Russian hut served (and serve) not so much decoration as protection of the house from evil forces... The symbolism of sacred images came from pagan times: solar circles, thunder signs (arrows), fertility signs (a field with dots), horse heads, horseshoes, heavenly abyss (various wavy lines), weaving and knots.

The hut was installed directly on the ground or on poles. Oak logs, large stones or stumps, on which the frame stood, were brought under the corners. In summer, the wind blew under the hut, drying the boards of the so-called "black" floor from below. By winter, the house was sprinkled with earth or a mound was made of turf. In the spring, the embankment or embankment was dug in some places to create ventilation.

The "red" corner in the Russian hut was located in the far corner of the hut, on the east side diagonally from the stove. The icons were placed in the shrine in the "red" or "holy" corner of the room in such a way that the person entering the house could see them immediately. This was considered an important element in protecting the home from "evil forces". The icons had to stand, and not hang, as they were revered as "alive".

The emergence of the image of the "Hut on Chicken Legs" is historically associated with wooden log cabins, which in ancient times in Russia were placed on stumps with chopped off roots to protect the tree from decay. In the dictionary of V. I. Dal it is said that "kur" is the rafters on peasant huts. In swampy places, huts were built on such rafters. In Moscow, one of the old wooden churches was called "Nikola on Chicken Legs", because because of the swampiness of the area it stood on stumps.

Hut on chicken legs - in fact, they are CHICKEN, from the word chicken hut. Chicken huts were called huts that were heated "in black", that is, that did not have a chimney. A stove without a chimney was used, called a "chicken stove" or "black". The smoke came out through the doors and during the heating it hung from the ceiling in a thick layer, which caused the upper parts of the logs in the hut to be covered with soot.

In ancient times, there was a funeral rite, which included the smoking of the legs of a "hut" without windows and doors, into which a corpse was placed.

The hut on chicken legs in folk fantasy was modeled after the Slavic churchyard, a small house of the dead. The house was placed on pillars. In fairy tales, they are presented as chicken legs, too, for a reason. The chicken is a sacred animal, an indispensable attribute of many magical rites. The Slavs put the ashes of the deceased in the house of the dead. The coffin itself, the domina or the graveyard-cemetery from such houses were presented as a window, an opening into the world of the dead, a means of passage to the underworld. That is why our fairytale hero constantly comes to the hut on chicken legs - to get into another dimension of time and the reality of not living people, but wizards. There is no other way there.

Chicken legs are just a "translation mistake".

The Slavs called the hemp "chicken (chicken) legs", on which the hut was placed, that is, the house of Baba Yaga originally stood only on smoked hemp. From the point of view of supporters of the Slavic (classical) origin of Baba Yaga, an important aspect of this image is that she belongs to two worlds at once - the world of the dead and the world of the living.

Chicken huts existed in Russian villages until the 19th century, they were found even at the beginning of the 20th century.

Only in the 18th century and only in St. Petersburg did Tsar Peter I forbid building houses with black heating. In others settlements they continued to be built until the 19th century.

The interior decoration of the Russian hut is an integral part of the history and culture of Russia. It was she, the old hut, who became the main part of folklore and even the heroine of many fairy tales and legends. Remember at least the hut on chicken legs - the fabulous dwelling of Baba Yaga, a terrible witch who frightens young children. She is often outwitted by the main fairy-tale characters.

So, Ivan Tsarevich turns to her for help in order to save his beloved from the terrible fate, and not without cunning receives the gifts of the old witch. Grandma-Yozhka is a negative character who helps Koshchei the Immortal, Serpent Gorynych and Cat Bayun in the creation of atrocities. But at the same time, this "heroine" is quite funny, funny and satirical.

About the origins

The word "hut" in Russia had many interpretations depending on the place of residence of people, therefore it was called differently. There are such synonyms as: yzba, istba, izba, firing and fountain. These words are often used in Russian chronicles, which, again, speaks of the inseparability and connectedness of housing with human life. This phrase has a direct connection with such Russian verbs as "drown" or "drown". This building had primarily a functional load, since it was designed to warm in frosts and shelter from natural conditions.

What was the hut in general

It is difficult to imagine the interior decoration of a Russian hut without a stove, since it was it that was the center of the room and its favorite part. It is known that many East Slavic peoples, Ukrainians, Russians and Belarusians, retained the term “stokupka”. Well, as mentioned earlier, it meant a heated building. These were both pantries for storing stocks of vegetables, and living quarters of various sizes.

To know how to draw the decoration of a Russian hut, you need to understand what it meant to a person. A significant event was the construction of a house for a peasant. It was not enough to solve a practical problem and provide yourself with a roof over your head. First of all, the house was a full-fledged living space for the whole family. The decoration of the hut should, as far as possible, be filled with all the necessary benefits of life, provide residents with warmth, give them love and a sense of peace. Such housing can only be built according to the old behests of ancestors, and the peasants have always followed the traditions very carefully.

About traditions

When building a house, particular importance was given to the choice of location, so that the building would subsequently be light, dry and high. The ritual value was of no less importance.

A happy place is one that has passed the strict test of time and was inhabited earlier: it became prosperous for the former owners who lived here. Territories near burials, baths that had been built there earlier, and also near the road were considered unsuccessful. It was believed that the devil himself walks along this path and can look into the dwelling.

About building material

The materials for the construction of the hut were chosen very carefully. The Russians used pine or larch logs for the construction. These trees have long and even trunks, lie flat and closely adjoin each other. They hold well inner warmth and do not rot for a long time. The choice of logs in the forest was a rather difficult task, for centuries a set of rules, an algorithm for selecting a log, was passed from fathers to children. Otherwise, if you choose the wrong, unusable material, the house will bring troubles and misfortunes.

Even for the interior decoration of the peasant hut, it was impossible to cut down sacred trees. They could bring serious ailments into the house. There was a belief that such special breeds should live only in the forest and die a natural death. If the prohibition is violated, they will bring death and grief into the house.

Dry wood was also unsuitable for construction. The place where the trees grew also had essential... The tree that grew at the crossroads of forest roads is "violent" and can bring great misfortune to the house - to destroy the log house and thereby kill the owners of the house.

Rituals

The process of building a house was not complete without rituals among the Slavs. At the beginning of construction, a sacrifice was performed. In this case, the victim was considered to be a chicken or a ram. This process was carried out when laying the first crown of the hut. Money, wool and grain were placed under the logs as symbols of wealth, prosperity, love, family warmth... Also, incense was put there as a sign of the sanctity of the house, as well as a kind of amulet against evil spirits. At the end of the work (construction), all participants in the process sat down at the table and were treated to delicious dishes.

The sacrifices were made for a reason. The victim was supposed to create a fortress for the house and protect it from adversity. Sometimes a person was brought as a gift to the gods, but this is in rare cases in order to protect the entire tribe from enemies. Most often, large cattle were betrayed to suffering: a bull or a horse. During archaeological excavations on old houses, it was their skeletons, as well as horse skulls, were found.

For the ceremony, a special hole was made, the remains had to be put there. It was located under the red corner, where icons and other charms were located. There were other favorite animals for the building sacrifice. A rooster or chicken became such a favorite for the Slavs. This is evidenced by the tradition of placing weathercocks in the form of cockerels, as well as the image or figurine of this animal on the roof of the house.

We can cite as an example the immortal classic work of N. V. Gogol "Viy". All the evil spirits disappeared after the crowing of the rooster. Therefore, the "screamer" is called upon to protect the home from evil spirits. Photos showing the decoration of the Russian hut in all its glory are presented in this article.

Roof device diagram

The roof was also made according to a special scheme:

• gutter;
• goofy;
• stamik;
• slag;
• flint;
• princely slega (knes);
• indiscriminate slag;
• male;
• fell;
• mooring;
• hen;
• pass;
• oppression.

General view of the hut

The decoration of the Russian hut outside, the way our great-grandfathers imagined and built, was special. According to old traditions, huts were built for thousands of years. Russian decoration The hut depended on where a person lived and what tribe he belonged to, since each tribe had its own traditions and laws by which they could be distinguished.

And even now it is impossible not to distinguish huts on the European territory of Russia. After all, in the north, log houses predominated, since there were plenty of forests there. In the south, there were huge reserves of clay, so huts-huts were built from it. The interior of the Russian hut was designed in the same way. Photos are a good example of this.

According to ethnographers, not a single popular thought was created immediately in its original form, such as we can observe now. History, culture, and with them the thought of people, changes and develops, bringing harmony, beauty and the great power of love into everything that was created. This also applies to the dwelling, which was formed and became more and more functional and comfortable. These statements are also proved by the mass of archaeological excavations carried out.

The Russian decoration of the hut largely depended on the climatic conditions in which people lived, and on the available building material. So, in the north was wet soil and dense forests full of logs suitable for the construction of dwellings, and other products prevailed and were actively used in the south. Based on this, a semi-dugout was distributed in the southern regions. This dum was with a depression of one and a half meters into the ground, respectively, it had a bulk floor. This type of dwelling in Russia existed until the 14-15th centuries.

After this time period, they began to build ground structures with a wooden floor, since they learned how to process logs and make boards from them. Also, houses were made, raised above the ground. They were more versatile, since they had 2 floors and provided opportunities for a comfortable life, storage of vegetable supplies, hay and housing for livestock in one house.

In the north, with an abundance of dense forests and a rather damp cold climate, semi-dugouts quickly turned into terrestrial houses, faster than in the south. The Slavs and their ancestors occupied a fairly large territory and differed from each other by age-old traditions, including in the construction of housing. But every tribe the best way adjusted to the surrounding conditions, so it cannot be said that some of the huts were worse. Everything had its place. Now you can understand how to draw the decoration of the Russian hut.

More about construction

Below is a photo. The decoration of the Russian hut on it is most typical for Ladoga, corresponding to the time period of the 9-11th centuries. The base of the house was square, that is, the width was equal to the length, which reached 5 meters.

The construction of a log hut required an attentive and careful approach, since the crowns had to match, and the logs had to fit tightly to each other, otherwise all the work was down the drain.

The bars had to fit as tightly as possible in order to protect residents from cold winds and drafts. Therefore, depressions were made in the frame through one log. Another beam was placed in this hole with a convex edge. The grooves between them were insulated with marsh moss, which carried not only thermal insulation value, but also antibacterial. From above this building was coated with clay.

About the nuances of construction

The interior decoration of the Russian hut sometimes assumed an earthen floor, which was watered with water and tamped down, which made it hard and smooth. During cleaning, a layer of dirt was simply swept away with a broom. But most often the interior decoration peasant hut suggested a wooden floor and raised above the ground to a height of one and a half meters. This was done in order to build an underground. A hatch led from it into a living room with a stove. All vegetable stocks were kept underground.

The Russian decoration of the hut for wealthy people suggested one more superstructure on top. From the outside, this house looked like a three-tiered one.

About annexes

The interior decoration of the Russian hut also had several nuances. Russian people often attached an entrance hall with large wide windows to their dwellings. It was called a canopy. So, at the entrance to the house, you first had to go into the hallway, and then enter the upper room. This hallway was up to 2 meters wide. Sometimes the canopy was connected to the cattle shed, therefore, accordingly, they were made larger.

In addition, this extension had a lot of other purposes. They kept goods there and made something necessary in bad weather, since the peasant never sat idle. In summer, guests can also be put to bed there after a noisy party. Scientists-archaeologists gave this dwelling the name "two-chamber", since it consisted of 2 rooms.

The interior decoration of the peasant hut was not complete without a cage. Since the beginning of the 10th century, this room serves as an additional bedroom, which was used only in the summer, as it was not heated. In the same place all year round food could be stored. And in winter - even perishable dishes, because it is always cold there.

How the kovlya was built

The roof in the hut was made using several techniques: it could be wooden, shingle, plank, or from shingle. With the development of history, and with it the skills of the people, during time period In the 16-17th centuries, the Slavs developed a unique concept of covering the roof with birch bark, which protected from leaks. She also carried an aesthetic purpose, since it betrayed the variegation of the building. A little earth and sod was placed on the roof. This was the old "smart technology" of protecting the house from fire.

As a rule, dugouts and semi-dugouts did not have windows. Because of this, the interior decoration of the Russian hut looked, of course, not the way we used to imagine. There were small window openings, tightened by the stomachs of a large cattle... However, later, when the hut "grew" above the ground, they began to make large glazed windows, which not only let in the light, but also made it possible to see what was happening on the street. The external decoration of the Russian hut assumed glazed ones, which at the beginning (10th century) were only owned by wealthy owners.

The toilet in Russia was called "back" and was located, as a rule, in the hallway. It was a hole in the floor that "looked" down towards the ground tier, where the cattle were usually kept. It appeared in huts since the 16th century.

About the construction of windows

The Russian decoration of the hut at a later time could not be imagined without windows. Usually the window opening consisted of 2 adjacent logs, which were cut in half. A rectangular frame with a latch that "went" in the horizontal direction was inserted there.

The inner space of the hut

The interior decoration of the Russian hut consisted of one to three living quarters. The entrance to the house began from the vestibule. The dwelling space was always very warm and heated by an oven. The interior decoration of the hut (photo) perfectly illustrates the life of commoners of those times.

As for the wealthy peasants and people with a high rank, there was a place in their dwelling and an additional room, which was called an upper room. The hosts received guests in it, and it was also very warm, bright and spacious. Was heated by a Dutch oven.

The interior of the Russian hut could not be imagined without an oven, which occupies most of the room, which was located at the entrance. However, in the southern part of the country, it was located in the far corner.

The interior decoration of the Russian hut was distinguished by a special, but at the same time quite simple, arrangement of objects. Dinner table usually stood in a corner, diagonally from the stove. Directly above him was a "red corner" with icons and other amulets. There were benches along the walls, and above them were shelves built into the walls. Such interior decoration of the Russian hut (photo) was found almost everywhere.

The stove had a multifunctional load, since it brought not only warm and tasty food, but also had a sleeping place.

The interior decoration of the Russian hut also demonstrates that there was much in common with the traditions of the East Slavic peoples, but there were also differences. In the north of Russia, people built stone ovens. They got their name because they were built of stone without the use of any bonding solution.

In the areas of Staraya Ladoga, the base of the stone furnace was one and a half meters across. The decoration of the peasant hut in the Izborsk region involved a stove made of clay, but on a stone base. In length and width, it reached up to 1 meter, as well as in height.

In the southern regions of the East Slavic countries, the furnace was built larger and wider, its stone foundation was laid with an approximate calculation of one and a half meters in length and 2 meters in width. These furnaces reached a height of 1.2 meters.