page_title: Ovruch
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Ovruch / Architecture
context_page_description: Ovruch is a city in the Zhytomyr Oblast of northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Ovruch Raion. It has a population of approximately 16,110 and is home to the Ovruch air base.
context_section_description: St. Basil's Church has four pillars, three apses and one dome. The western facade is flanked by two round towers, probably in imitation of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev. The building is distinguished by elaborate brick facades, interlaced with bands of polished colored stone. The complicated design of pilasters points to a complex system of roofing and to a very high dome. The dome and vaults collapsed during the siege of Ovruch by Gediminas in 1321. The ruins of the church survived until 1842, when they crumbled, with the exception of three apses and a portion of the northern wall with an arch.
  In 1907 Aleksey Shchusev was commissioned to restore the church to its presumed original form, incorporating the remains of Rurik's church into its edifice. Restoration work lasted for two years, and it won Schusev the prestigious title of the Academician of Architecture. More recently, the accuracy of his restoration has been questioned, as it didn't take into account the complicated system of vaulting and the considerable height of the drum. As a consequence of this oversight, the drum was restored according to a model typical of more archaic churches, rather than for the turn of the 13-th century. Adjacent buildings of St. Basil's Convent were built on the model of medieval architecture of Pskov, simultaneously with the restoration of the main church.
caption: St. Basil's Church
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