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The Architecture of the Church of Saint Sergius of Radonezh in Midrand

The picturesque silhouette of the Orthodox Church of Saint Sergius of Radonezh stands in a prime location in Midrand, where it is visible from the N1 highway, crossing South Africa. His Eminence Cyrill, the Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad and His Eminence Seraphim, the Metropolitan of Johannesburg and Pretoria consecrated it on 2 March 2003.

The Church fulfils a need for the spiritual support of emigrants from the Commonwealth of Independent Countries who now reside in the Republic of South Africa. These emigrants are now able to experience a spiritual and cultural link with their Motherland.

The appearance of the Church is supposed to reflect the wealth of ancient cultural Orthodox tradition. For this reason, the famous architect Yuri Kirs, from St. Petersburg, was asked to design this masterpiece. He is well known for his architectural work on the restoration of the Cathedral of the Vladimirskaja Icon of the Mother of God, the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra, the St. Xenia Chapel in the Smolensk cemetery and the restoration of the iconostases and churches of the Holy Transfiguration Valaam Monastery.

The design of the Church harmoniously combines elements from various Russian architectural schools namely: the Vladimir-Suzdalsky, the Moscow and the Saint Petersburg schools. But these historical methods were rethought and synthesized by the architect resulting in an artistic masterpiece.

The church conveys a feeling of perfect balance and proportion, which is a strong characteristic of the Vladimir-Suzdalsky school. The graceful, light proportions, a rich variety of architectural forms as well as the combination of the white walls with the golden cupolas, which are reminiscent of the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin; all these give the church a festive and graceful appearance.

An unusual architectural design is used in the construction of the six round towers. The façade of the building incorporates original portals, in which can be seen elements of Byzantine architecture. The arches of the pediments resemble those of the St. Xenia Chapel in St. Petersburg. The logical completeness of the design ensures that the apse of the Church is also enclosed within the frame of an arch. Unexpectedly, the cornices include Dutch frescos that remind you on one hand of early Petersburg buildings, but on the other hand, of the Boer heritage in the culture of South Africa. The Church’s smooth corners are unequalled in contemporary architecture; the rounded “philenoks” echo the rhythm of the façade, lengthening the outline of the Church, strengthening it as it reaches towards the heavens. This effect enhances the height of the windows, a characteristic of Russian architecture.

The interior of the Church is far more spacious than it appears from first impressions. The large central dome dominates the interior, with only slender columns in the Byzantine style to support the central cupola. Windows in the central tower reflect sunlight on to the white walls, which illuminates the whole interior. The dark wood partition (iconostasis) separating the altar is made in early Byzantine style. The splendid Tsar gates are finished in the baroque style of Moscow in the 17th century. It is a rare honour for the Church to grant the architect the freedom to create completely original work. It is his use of historical context in combination with all the techniques of modern architecture that has created a masterpiece of rare and precious beauty.

The dazzling and joyous appearance of the Church, with its golden cupolas glittering in the South African sun, stretches out an invisible spiritual thread from its crosses to those of the Church of the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra in distant Russia, to the glory of the Orthodox faith.

M.V. Volkova.

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The architect - Kirs George Victorovich

George Kirs was born on the 18 of May 1959 in the city of Leningrad. In 1982 he started working professionally as a sculptor, restorer and woodcarver at the Ekaterina’s Palace in the city of Pushkin.

In 1991 he completed an architectural degree at the Leningrad Construction and Engineering institute.

From 1989 to 1995, he worked with design organisations including "Lengrazhdanproect" and "TST".

During this time a series of projects including living quarters and office parks were accomplished in the cities of Kirovsk and Otradnoe, as well as the department store "SITOP" in Finland.

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Ancient tradition brought to commercial SA

This article first appeared in the journal "ARCHI-technology" in November 2004 and is reproduced here by kind permission of the publishers - Brooke Pattrick Publications (Pty) Ltd and personally by Mr. Gerald Garner.

The gold-leaf-covered onion domes of a Russian Orthodox church are not a sight one expects to see when driving through the ever-developing area of Midrand on the N1 freeway. But that is precisely what has been built not far from the New Road offramp. Claire Cole paid a fascinating visit to the building with Alminic Construction, the company which built the church, and spoke to Reverend Hiegumen Philaret, who initiated and organised its construction.

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