The cityscape by Malik Yambushev, Honored Artist of the Republic of Mordovia, is full of nostalgia. The panorama of the center of Saransk, shown from above, reflects the city’s history and the Soviet era. The view from the fifth floor of an apartment building, standing at the back of the block, offers a perspective of St. John the Theologian Church and the built-up areas along Sovetskaya and Bolshevistskaya Streets. The scenery is typical for a small Russian town in the late 1990s with only a few intact historic buildings and a lot of typical high-rise apartment blocks around the old church. Some public buildings from the 1930s and a lot of old wooden residential buildings still survived in those years. The timelessness of the 1990s, with its volatility and losses, forced the artist to capture the dear to his heart places of his favorite city, where old and new buildings are mixed together and where friendly people live.
The history of this place is remarkable. The village of Ivanovskoe with a wooden church existed before the foundation of the Saransk fortress in 1641. Half a century later, the Church of St. John the Theologian was rebuilt in stone, and later reconstructed. In 1693 a five-domed church in the Stroganov baroque style was erected. In the 1820s a refectory and a bell tower in the provincial Empire style were added to it. During the Soviet era, services continued in the church, and until 2007 it was the cathedral of the Saransk diocese. Today it is the oldest fully preserved building in Mordovia, an architectural monument of federal importance.
The panorama shows buildings built in the pre-war years in the style of constructivism: the “Tsentralnaya” hotel, the House of the Press. The buildings of neoclassical architecture are also prominent: the former Communist Party Committee, the “Oktyabr” cinema, and residential buildings on Sovetskaya Street. High-rise apartment blocks, which give the city center a modern look, tower up above the buildings. The artist also shows new developments — the House of the Republic and the Museum of Military and Labor Feat.
Malik Yambushev’s painting is also valuable as a historical document: in the 2000s this place was changed beyond recognition — old buildings were demolished to create Sobornaya Square and the majestic St.Theodore Cathedral.
The history of this place is remarkable. The village of Ivanovskoe with a wooden church existed before the foundation of the Saransk fortress in 1641. Half a century later, the Church of St. John the Theologian was rebuilt in stone, and later reconstructed. In 1693 a five-domed church in the Stroganov baroque style was erected. In the 1820s a refectory and a bell tower in the provincial Empire style were added to it. During the Soviet era, services continued in the church, and until 2007 it was the cathedral of the Saransk diocese. Today it is the oldest fully preserved building in Mordovia, an architectural monument of federal importance.
The panorama shows buildings built in the pre-war years in the style of constructivism: the “Tsentralnaya” hotel, the House of the Press. The buildings of neoclassical architecture are also prominent: the former Communist Party Committee, the “Oktyabr” cinema, and residential buildings on Sovetskaya Street. High-rise apartment blocks, which give the city center a modern look, tower up above the buildings. The artist also shows new developments — the House of the Republic and the Museum of Military and Labor Feat.
Malik Yambushev’s painting is also valuable as a historical document: in the 2000s this place was changed beyond recognition — old buildings were demolished to create Sobornaya Square and the majestic St.Theodore Cathedral.
