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43-556: The church is located on the southeastern spur of Mount Shoana  [ os ] , on the left bank of the Kuban River , in a strategically important place not far from confluence of the two rivers: Kuban and Teberda River . The church is located 7 km to the north from the city of Karachayevsk ( Russian : Карачаевск ), above the Ossetian Kosta Khetagurov village  [ ru ] . The church

86-573: A relatively warm climate and rapid flow in the upper part. The Kuban River is characterized by numerous (6–7 through the year) floods due to rains and thaws, both in the winter and summer. The water level used to fluctuate by up to 5 metres (16 ft), with the maximum in July and the minimum in February. The amplitude of these fluctuations was reduced by construction of the Nevinnomyssk channel and

129-553: Is 163 cubic metres per second (5,800 cu ft/s), and it formerly varied between 0.95 and 1,160 cubic metres per second (34 and 40,965 cu ft/s) before the filling of the Krasnodar Reservoir in the 1980s. The annual outflow to the Azov Sea is about 12 to 13 cubic kilometres (2.9 to 3.1 cu mi) of water, 8 million tonnes of sediments and 4 million tonnes of dissolved salts. The average turbidity

172-665: Is 682 g/m . Water salinity increases toward the delta; it normally varies between 50 and 400 mg/L and may reach 1000 mg/L in some areas. All major tributaries flow into the Kuban from the left and originate in the Caucasus Mountains . Those tributaries include the Bolshoy Zelenchuk, Maly Zelenchuk, Urup, Laba, Belaya and Pshish. The main tributaries of the Kuban are, from source to mouth: The river flows through three types of landscape: mixed forests of

215-520: Is an Alanian church, located in the Lower-Arkhyz settlement in Russia 's Karachay-Cherkessia Republic. It is the oldest church in this settlement. It was built in two steps: construction began in the early 10th century, and finished in 932, when Christians were banished from the empire. The second stage finished around 950-960 when Alans returned to Christianity, with only small changes made from

258-507: Is constructed according to the Byzantine architectural tradition . It has three apses , which are a little bit narrower than naves (of which there are also three). It is a cross-domed building with four square pillars bearing three-stage arches and a cupola . The length of the building from west to east is 12.9 m., The height is equal to the length, the width along the western facade is 8.9 m. The church has two closed vaulted narthexes at

301-614: Is hiding in small pools in the summer. It spawns in rapid streams 10 to 20 centimetres (4 to 8 in) deep with a pebble or rocky bottom. It does not migrate much, but it moves downstream in winter to find deeper pools and returns upstream in summer. This species is abundant throughout the whole river. Before the construction of dams, the River had migratory stocks of sturgeons ( Acipenser gueldenstaedtii , A. stellatus , Huso huso ) and cyprinids ( Alburnus mento , Vimba vimba ). These species have low presence nowadays. The delta of

344-598: Is navigable up to Krasnodar . Major cities on the river are Karachayevsk , Cherkessk , Nevinnomyssk , Armavir , Novokubansk , Kropotkin , Ust-Labinsk , Krasnodar and Temryuk . Despite its name, Slavyansk-on-Kuban lies not on the Kuban River, but on its distributary the Protoka. The river originates on the slopes of Mount Elbrus and forms at the merger of its two tributaries, the Ullukam and Uchkulam; from

387-490: Is occupied by the Zakubanskie marshes. At 116 kilometres (72 mi) from the mouth, the Kuban converges with a major tributary, the Protoka, which is 130 kilometres (81 mi) long. Near its mouth the Kuban narrows to 3 to 4 kilometres (1.9 to 2.5 mi) and then forms a delta covering about 4,300 square kilometres (1,700 sq mi). The delta contains numerous limans , some of which have gradually separated from

430-399: Is traditional for Georgian and Byzantine buildings, is used only in the arches. The rest of the building is composed of sandstone-with-lime blocks of rough processing, with a butoconcrete filling inside the wall. The windows are crowned not with an arch of plinthite , but with a stone with a semi-circular finish carved in it. Numerous holes for scaffolding are visible in the masonry , and in

473-822: The Kuban Cossacks who settled in its basin in the 18th–19th centuries. During the Russian conquest of the Caucasus it was part of the North Caucasus Line . The delta of Kuban is an important rice-growing region of Russia. Also developed here is fishery with the major commercial species including perch, roach and chalcalburnus. The river is navigated up to Krasnodar where it feeds the Krasnodar Thermal Power Plant. Central Zelenchuksky Church Central Zelenchuchsky Church

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516-654: The Western Caucasus and drains into the Sea of Azov . The Kuban runs mostly through Krasnodar Krai for 660 kilometres (410 mi), but also in the Karachay–Cherkess Republic , Stavropol Krai and the Republic of Adygea . The Kuban flows 870 kilometres (540 mi) north and west from its source near Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus Mountains , eventually reaching Temryuk Bay in the Sea of Azov . It

559-469: The cathedral . The settlement continued until the Mongol invasion in the 13th century In the late 19th century the church was used as a monastery . The monks made several additions to the building. The original view of the church was depicted in drawings by D.M. Strukov, descriptions of P. Sinayskiy and 19th century photographs. The monks’ additions include two compartments on the west corner, openings in

602-694: The frescoes can be associated with the second layer of the painting in the Senty Church . Therefore, presumably the Shoana church was built in the late 10th – early 11th centuries. Thus, the Shoana church was built after the Central Zelenchuksky Church (950-960s), Senty (965) and North Zelenchuksky (late 960s - 970s) churches; it belongs to the third stage of the temple construction in Alania after returning to Christianity around 950. At

645-568: The Caucasus in the south, Crimean Submediterranean forests in the central part, and steppe in the north. The Caucasus mixed forests are rich in tree species; at mid-elevation, they are dominated by Georgian oak ( Quercus iberica ), hornbeam ( Carpinus caucasica ), sweet chestnut ( Castanea sativa ) and Oriental beech ( Fagus orientalis ). Higher forests are coniferous and consist of fir ( Abies nordmanniana ) and spruce ( Picea orientalis ). The Crimean Submediterranean forests are also coniferous, dominated by fir and spruce. The vegetation of

688-404: The Kuban River and its estuaries are a popular resting ground for various migratory birds, especially waterfowl such as wild geese, ducks, cormorants, pelicans, swans and gray herons. Also abundant are birds of prey, such as falcons, as well as foxes and wild cats. Muskrats were brought to the watershed in the 20th century for commercial fur production. Tens of thousands of years ago, the Azov Sea

731-492: The Tschikskoe, Krasnodar and Shapsug reservoirs. These measures also provided water for fish farming and rice fields. The average discharge of the Kuban River is at its maximum near Krasnodar at about 425 cubic metres per second (15,000 cu ft/s). It was formerly higher by some 30 cubic metres per second (1,100 cu ft/s) but was lowered by the reservoir construction. The average discharge near Armavir

774-400: The church itself. The Shoana church is essentially a smaller copy of North Zelenchuksky Church (besides Shoana having no narthex and western porch). Indisputable proof of copying is a characteristic combination of the eastern corner cells and the side bema into a single compartiment with one blind arch on the side wall. Russian historians A.Vinogradov and D. Beletsky believe that the church

817-510: The construction of the Krasnodar Dam, but is still large in the middle and upper parts of the Kuban and its tributaries. The Kuban gudgeon and Little Kuban gudgeon are restricted to the sections with moderately fast flow and gravel or sandy bottoms; they are abundant in the middle part of the river. The Kuban gudgeon is unusual by having five anal branched rays . Aphips chub ( Squalius aphipsi ) occurs in southern tributaries of Kuban and

860-595: The construction was finished by masters from Anatolia (supposedly, Cappadocia) with the addition of a northeastern compartment. Stone chairs were replaced by wooden ones. These builders supposedly, also built Senty Church in 965. The church was probably meant to be for funerals and memorials of the Alanian rulers and clergy. This function was inherited by the Northern Church, and the Middle Church became

903-459: The delta mostly consists of thickets of reeds, grassweed , sedges , bur-reed and cattail . Less frequent are tape-grasses , grass rush , arrowhead and other water-hungry plants. The estuaries have rich underwater vegetation in the form of stoneworts algae, pondweed , hornworts , lilies and other species. The total area of such vegetation is 40,000 to 50,000 hectares (150 to 190 sq mi). Some estuaries contain thickets of lotus which

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946-477: The dome of the church is the biggest among churches in Alania. Eight narrow arched Windows are in the drum. The temple dome rests on the corners of the building. Most of the frescoes did not survive. The remains of the second stage of the painting (the first decoration was probably incomplete and was located mainly in the apses) are preserved on the northern and southern walls of the cross' lateral branches. The northern wall displays an image of two Holy martyrs above

989-618: The end of the 19th century, Shoana church was turned into the church of the Alexander-Athos monastery. The temple was re-plastered, the roof was replaced, and the chapels were rebuilt. In 2007 residents of the Kosta Khetagurov village made an unauthorized repair of the church after a series of appeals to the government of the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic. Late plaster in the interior of the church

1032-569: The entrance between the windows. In the Central part of the southern wall, between the door and the windows, a huge (about 3 m) image of saints Constantine and Helena holding a large cross is visible. To the right of them under the window there is a small fragment of the image of the warrior.  On the walls of the Western sleeve were depicted the Holy warriors-horsemen. On one of the arches under

1075-657: The genera Gobio , Romanogobio , Squalius and Chondrostoma and contain species and genera such as carp, Prussian carp , roach , bream, silver bream , pike, perch, ruffe , Chalcalburnus , Sprattus , Mugil and others. Some species such as silver carp and grass carp were acclimatized in the last decade. Endemic species include the Kuban barbel ( Barbus kubanicus ), Gobio kubanicus , Little Kuban gudgeon ( Romanogobio parvus ), Kuban long-barbelled gudgeon ( R. pentatrichus ), Kuban nase ( Chondrostoma kubanicum ), Sabanejewia kubanica , Oxynoemacheilus merga and Aphips chub. Kuban barbel and Kuban nase are

1118-399: The hole in the western part of the southern wall there is even a piece of wood that the builders could not remove and just saw it off. For the construction of the church powerful substructions [1] were required. The facade decor of the church is very modest: there is a cornice made of stone tiles, plinthite stones on the drum and stone cornice above some the windows. Outside the church

1161-494: The northern and southern end. It is not clear what was the original form of the roof. At the moment, there is a restored gable roof , but there is a theory about the original roof tiles being rested on semi-circular zacomari-gables. The tholobate is octahedral and has eight windows, each side of the tholobate is ended with the archivolt overhang on consoles rested on the corners. Modern tholobate being milti-faced does not rely on any scientific evidence. The plinthite , which

1204-458: The only species of their genera within the Kuban basin. They prefer mountainous streams with a rapid flow and sandy or rocky bottom on which they spawn. After the construction of the Krasnodar Dam in the 1980s, the Kuban barbel became rare in the lower Kuban. On the contrary, Kuban nase moves downstream to lower sections or larger tributaries in winter. It is rather sensitive to the water quality, especially turbidity. Its population also declined after

1247-413: The original plan. The Lower-Arkhyz settlement was located on an important trade and military route, connecting the steppes of Northern Caucasus with Transcaucasia and Black Sea . The settlement was an important spiritual and economic center of Alania . A residence of the metropolitan bishop, more than 10 churches and, supposedly, a Greek factory were there. The Middle church is located 800 meters to

1290-587: The original project was changed in the 950-960-s. The distinctive features of the Middle temple are the Eastern corner compartments, which are neither completely open nor completely isolated, since they are separated from the Eastern sleeve by walls with cut passages. Pilasters are present in the interior of the temple only on the Northern and southern walls of the Western and Eastern sleeves. The cylindrical drum of

1333-581: The river. Until the 19th century the Kuban River discharged into both the Black and the Azov seas. However later, the rising grounds redirected the river entirely to the Azov Sea. In the upper stream the river is mostly fed by glaciers and high-mountain snow (49%). Near Krasnodar, this contribution drops to 32%; meanwhile, the water supply from the subsoil water increases from 21% to 32%, and that of rainwater from 27% to 32%. The river does not freeze over because of

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1376-517: The source of the Ullukam to the delta, it has a length of 906 kilometres (563 mi). Between the source and Nevinnomyssk the river flows mostly in the deep and narrow gorge , has many thresholds and rapidly changes its elevation. Near Nevinnomyssk a dam supplies water to the Nevinnomyssk channel. In its central part, until the confluence with the Bolshaya Laba , the Kuban River flows in a wide flat valley with terraced slopes. Then it bends to

1419-407: The south of the Northern church. The Southern Church was In the central part of the settlement and survives in reconstructed form. Construction started not long before the banishment of Christians from Alania in 932. It was constructed by Abkhazian masters in the form of a Latin cross with the addition of a Southeastern compartment. After the return of Christianity in the middle of the 10th century,

1462-483: The village, was whitewashed. On April 30, 2011, unknown people set the temple on fire, but it was quickly eliminated, and the interior and icons were not damaged. On February 16, 2016 in Russia a silver commemorative coin dedicated to Shoana Church was released. Kuban River [REDACTED]   Karachay-Cherkessia [REDACTED]   Stavropol Krai The Kuban is a river in Russia that flows through

1505-496: The west and develops a left-bank floodplain, which is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) wide near Ust-Labinsk. There it is winding and has many shoals and rapids. Below the mouth of Laba the river widens up to 20 kilometres (12 mi). Between the mouths of the rivers Laba and Afips the Adyghe marshes cover an area of about 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi), and below the river Afips, about 800 square kilometres (310 sq mi)

1548-399: The west part, which were made into doors, a renewed narthex and northern entrance. Walls of the church were plastered and whitewashed and interior was decorated with stucco , which led to disappearance of almost all the frescoes . Like all of the cross-in-square churches in Alania (except Southern church ) it featured a gable roof, but originally they were curvilinear. From ancient times it

1591-451: Was brought to the area from Africa. The wide delta of Kuban, with its abundant estuaries, is especially rich in plankton and benthos . There are about 400 species of zooplankton, including rotifers , copepods , cladocerans , mollusks, worms, etc., providing abundant food for fish. The fish fauna of the Kuban differs from that of the nearby Don and Volga rivers and contains more than 65 species from 16 families. They are dominated by

1634-405: Was built by a local builders, who repeated a known pattern, but they were technically better trained than previous builders and could freely interpret the chosen form. It is very difficult to associate the builders with a particular architectural school. There is no written evidence to accurately date the church. Only the picturesque scenery of the church sheds some light on its dating. The remains of

1677-420: Was covered in bream , instead of tiles. Many attempts were made to reconstruct the original coating, but they were not durable, and during the last renovation it was covered with tiles. Dome architecture came to Alania via cross-shaped churches. Before that, basilicas dominated Alanian architecture. The church involved unusual planning – in the form of a semi-free Latin cross, while the original project of 920s

1720-428: Was covered with a thin layer of plastering (can be seen in the voids between some stone tiles), and inside it was plastered and decorated with ornaments. The slope, on which the church is located, was previously densely populated, as evidenced by the remains of numerous ancient buildings. Although the original function of the church remains unknown, a large number of burials were found in the settlement, as well as inside

1763-421: Was more akin to a free Latin cross. The church is built from rough sandstone blocks on lime using shell masonry. The plinth was partially used in the arches and sconces. The floor was made from the ceramic crumb-in-lime mixture, displaying a distinctive pink color. The construction seam on the joint of the northern part, North-Eastern compartment and also different thickness of the walls and pilasters indicate that

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1806-421: Was much larger and covered the delta of the Kuban River. Deposition of silt by the Kuban gradually pushed out the sea and shaped the delta with numerous limans and shallow estuaries. Frequent eruptions of the mud volcanoes contributed to this deposition process. There are about 25 mud volcanoes in the area and some are still active. The ancient Greeks called the river Hypanis . Kuban River gave its name to

1849-415: Was roughly knocked down, under that plaster was the original plaster was found. As a result, a part of this original coating was lost, and nowadays on the newly discovered parts there are remains of ancient decorative painting. There are also Greek, Arabic, Georgian, Armenian and Russian inscriptions of various eras and numerous North Caucasian ancestral signs - tamga. The eastern part of the church, closest to

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