ABSTRACT

Window glass has been one of the building materials found during studies of Kievan Russian architecture. Fragments have been found in most of the monuments in Kiev and Pereiaslavl', and in several of the monuments of Chernigov. Glass has been found more rarely in the monuments of other Russian towns, although it does occur in Novgorod, Smolensk and in Volynia. However, since window glass is such a fragile and easily broken material, the absence of finds cannot testify to the fact that glass had not actually been used in a given monument. In Turov, Novogrudok, Vladimir and Riazan', window glass has been found in wooden houses, but its use in larger monuments has still not been recorded. Therefore, it would be difficult to suppose that glass was used only in rich dwellings and not in the stone churches in the same towns. In studies of the monuments in Novgorod, fragments of glass have seldom been found, but excavations of wooden dwellings have revealed glass.1 Window glass was also found during the excavation of houses in Volkovysk2 and Pinsk.3 In some of the monuments of Novgorod, wooden window frames have been found, but without any glass. In these cases either the fragments of glass have not survived or mica and not glass was put in the window panes.4