In ancient times, each person built housing for himself and his family. It personified for him "his", safe space, which was opposed to the surrounding world full of dangers.
Instructions
Step 1
The house was considered a reduced copy of the universe: its 4 walls were facing the 4 cardinal points, and the foundation, frame and roof embodied the underworld, heaven and earth. In the center of the house, a tree was necessarily planted, symbolizing the Tree of Life. From ancient times, construction in Russia was considered a sacred rite. It was accompanied by a huge number of rituals, starting with the choice of a place for the future house and ending with magical amulets that did not allow happiness to leave the constructed housing.
Step 2
Dwellings in Russia were preferred to be built of wood. First, the Russian land has always been rich in forests. It was enough for a man to go out with an ax to the outskirts to start chopping wood. Secondly, the tree is easy to process, therefore, construction will proceed very quickly. A friendly carpenter's artel could lay down a house or a small temple within one daylight hours. In addition, a wooden dwelling has many other advantages. It is always dry, it keeps it cool in summer and warm in winter.
Step 3
Every Russian peasant was an excellent carpenter and could cut a hut himself. The main and almost the only tool was an ax. They not only cut trees, but also hewed them and split them into planks. Houses were built without a single nail, using the “thorns and nests” method. Small holes ("nests") were made in the upper part of the log, and sharp wooden pins ("thorns") protruded from the lower part. When laying, the logs were tightly fitted to each other, so that the spikes entered the nests. Such a structure could stand for centuries, unless it had to suffer from a fire.
Step 4
The roof of the house symbolized the path of the sun in the sky. A proud and beautiful horse stood on top of it. The pediment of the wooden hut was decorated with carved boards decorated with solar symbols - round rosettes and rhombuses. The ridge and sun signs indicated the midday sun at its zenith, the left end of the board descending from the roof was the morning rising, and the right end was the evening setting.
Step 5
The house looked at the world with its eyes-windows. They linked the cozy home world with the restless outside world. To protect against the invasion of hostile forces, the windows were richly decorated with carved decor. In the patterned decoration of old Russian huts, you can find symbolic images of the sun, birds, plants, animals, fantastic creatures that personified the heavenly sphere, earth and underground waters.
Step 6
A bathhouse, a well and a barn were placed separately from the house. The bathhouse is closer to the water, the barn is far from the dwelling, so that if a fire breaks out in the hut, it retains a year's supply of grain.
