Latisheva O. Christian Church and Religious Life in Byzantium Kherson (VI - X centuries)

The object of study – Christian Church of Byzantium Kherson (VI - X centuries). The purpose of study is the analysis of the basic features of early dark ages christian Church in and religious life of Kherson’s inhabitants in conditions of christian Church formation as religious organization in early dark ages period. The methods: method of the critical analysis, comparative, comparative-historical methods, structurally functional analysis, method of modeling, method of architectural-typological comparisons, method of retrospective. The practical value of the work: consists in an opportunity of use of its results for a spelling of generalizing scientific and popular works on a history of early dark ages Kherson, general and special courses, preparation of thematic expositions of museums and creation of sites in Internet, devoted history of Byzantium and its provinces, and also history of orthodox and christian Church. In the dissertation on the basis of studying a wide complex of sources and the scientific literature the Christian Church and religious life of Byzantium Kherson VI-X centuries are analyzed. It is fulfilled the historiographical review of studying basic problems of this period in the history of Kherson. The structure of christian Church and the place which was occupied by the Kherson department during the VI - X centuries are defined in the thesis. A social structure and quantity of the Kherson clergy in early dark ages is determined. Special attention is spared to the description and classification of buildings for public worship and to the main features of reconstruction of basic types of sacral architecture. The early Byzantine rite in a temple and outdoors is examined, according to liturgical features of temples and writing materials of archaeological sources of Kherson. The cults of holy relicts, secondary relicts and sainted martyrs in Kherson are separately investigated in the work. On the example of Kherson’s materials the differences between memorial and martyrium cults are marked out. Considerable attention is payed to features and specific of liturgical rites of Kherson on the example of the оffice of Baptism, Chrismation, оffice of consecration of myrth oil and water, and obsequial rites.