Ever since humanity moved from caves, dugouts and huts to buildings, various housing designs have appeared in different parts of the world, which later developed into architectural masterpieces. Human houses were built of different materials, for different conditions, with different levels of comfort and equipment, but the common feature for all of them was doors and windows. But even they differed depending on the region and the individuality of the owner. And it is the windows that will be discussed further.
Local historian Arif Bagirov told “TRIBUN” in a monologue about the types of windows in the Luhansk region and shared the stories that accompanied him in his research of his native region.
Background information: Arif Bagirov is a public figure and local historian from Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk region. Before the full-scale invasion, he traveled around his native land in search of ancient houses that have survived to this day. His interest is in windows. More precisely, the patterns that our ancestors used to decorate the frames
Windows are a mirror image of the house owner
I've been studying modern local history for a long time and I can say with confidence that our region is just like the rest of Ukraine, just like all other regions. I became interested in windows when I saw a collection of women's clothing in the Novoaidar Museum, gathered from different parts of Luhansk region. There were no identical images among the thirty. This is explained by the fact that during the colonization of our places, people from the Right Bank, Naddniprianshchyna, Sivershchyna, and many other regions moved to Slobozhanshchyna. Accordingly, they brought their cultural peculiarities and traditions to various spheres of life, not only to clothing. This included construction, which interested me.
During the reign of the Russian Empire, land was distributed to landlords who brought so many people with them that they founded entire villages. That's why each village has its own history and identity, which distinguishes it from its neighbors. And I thought that windows should probably be different in the same way, and in my numerous local historical trips, among other things, I began to pay attention to what architectural traditions, including window trim, are inherent in each individual village.
I should note right away that there are not so many bright old platbands that have survived to this day. And not all of them are old, but they have a character. After all, many mazankas were built in the war-torn country because they are simple and cheap, and you can use the materials available nearby. In the northern areas of the Luhansk region, houses were built of marl, in river valleys - of wood, and in areas of chalk outcrops - of lime blocks.
Where all this was not good enough, they wove a palisade from branches, covered it with clay or a mixture of straw or other material, and whitewashed it. This was enough for the first time, and then they either moved to cities where housing was being built en masse and there was work, or they made the house more durablel, laying it with bricks and covering it with slate.
Difficult expeditions
In my search for interesting local history platbands, I have repeatedly found myself in various situations. Not all owners take it well when someone wants to photograph their house. All sorts of things happened. Once someone threatened me with a gun, to which I smiled, turned around and left. Once I was attacked by a crowd of Roma near Chervona Street in Lysychansk: it turned out that the house I photographed was not abandoned, but inhabited. They surrounded me, waving their hands, shouting, not wanting to listen to the fact that I was a local historian and was doing nothing wrong, and the situation escalated. Eventually I managed to shout at them and explain everything, and then I was able to leave. But it is better to avoid such situations, so most of the houses in the photos in my archive, which I call "smudges," are abandoned. But even those should be photographed in the spring, when they are not overgrown with bushes and can still be seen. I have a rule: even if a house is abandoned, I never enter it, because it is not mine. The only exceptions are my house and the estates of friends or acquaintances who invited me.
It was difficult, but it was possible to find them, which is what I actually did, riding my bike on various errands and looking for interesting things. Of course, the geography of my expeditions did not cover the entire region, and my collection is not the most complete, but I traveled a lot within a radius of 100 kilometers from Sievierodonetsk, and this is what came of it.
The settlers were guided not only by practicality and aesthetics, but also by the sacred meaning of the house's design, including the ornamentation of the platbands. Each symbol meant something, protected from something, gave something. For example, the most common symbol on windows, fences, gates, and many other places throughout Ukraine is a rhombus. It symbolizes a field and is charged with fruitfulness, which was quite good in our region, with only the communists causing famine.
The second most common is the winged ornament. Our ancestors believed that wings symbolize angelic protection over the house and its inhabitants. I saw the most wings in Muratove, where almost all the platbands are like that.
At the same time, windows with various wings can be seen throughout the Luhansk region in smaller numbers.
Often they are made as an ornament, sometimes just symbolically.
The third most popular ornament is the birds. They symbolize love.
At the same time, there are ornaments that are quite difficult to classify. I have seen them in villages and towns around Sievierodonetsk - in Borovenky, Smolianynove, etc.
Sometimes I came across interesting carved platbands, which are generally not typical of our region. It can be assumed that these houses were built by immigrants from other lands.
One of my favorite examples is a house in Petropavlivka.
It is unadorned, but the fact that it is a window of a mazanka makes it clear that the owners could not afford the extra expenses.
And then there are those that are clearly unconventional in various senses.
When you see these windows of typical Ukrainian houses, from which the same Ukrainians as in other parts of the world looked at this imperfect world, it occurs to you that for many centuries Russia has been depriving us of the opportunity to live on our land in our own homes, taking away our sustainable life. History is repeating itself. We must learn our lesson and prevent the next generation from leaving their homes.
Автор: Аріф Багіров
