Religious semantics in the modern monumental landscape: all-Russian and regional aspects

The article analyzes the religious aspects of the formation of a modern monumental landscape at a national and regional scale in the post-Soviet period. The author tried to characterize the representation of the religious component in the modern monumental landscape of the country. The main sources were regulatory documents, materials of Internet sites and the results of field studies of the territories of historical centers of southern Russian cities. The methodological basis of the research was historical-comparative, retrospective, typological methods, as well as the method of participatory observation, the use of which is due to the author’s many years of expert activity in the field of preserving cultural heritage. The author emphasizes that, in the context of the orientation towards traditionalism and religiosity made by the Russian authorities after the collapse of the USSR, the Orthodox Church acquired a leading role. The formation of the Orthodox monumental landscape is presented in the development over the course of three post-Soviet decades. The nature of the interaction between the state and church authorities in matters of modeling the official ideology and strengthening the social positions of the Russian Orthodox Church is considered. The importance of religious monumental rhetoric in the material embodiment of the ideas of national-Orthodox revival based on the “symphony of priesthood and kingdom”, in the visual sacralization of state power is determined. The significance of the recreated iconic pre-revolutionary churches as symbols of historical continuity and translators of religious and spiritual meanings (the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Krasnodar, etc.) is analyzed. Their place in the modern urban-planning space (architectural and urban-planning compositional accents and dominants) and in the sociocultural sphere (places of memory, social attraction, public spaces) is indicated. The contradictoriness of public perception of the church-architectural monumentalization of landscapes is shown. The predominant ideological function and lack of involvement in the church tradition of sculptural monuments on religious themes are emphasized. The most popular images of Orthodox saints and biblical heroes included in the processes of monumental commemoration (Alexander Nevsky, Sergius of Radonezh, Nicholas the Wonderworker, Peter and Fevronia, Saint George the Victorious, etc.) are highlighted. The author has established that monuments with religious symbols and church architecture convey the ideas of sustainability and continuity of tradition in the context of globalization.