The Church Architecture of the Ilichevskoe Settlement in the Caucasian and Byzantine Context

This work is devoted to the analysis of the church architecture of the Ilyichevsk settlement. Eight Christian churches were excavated at the Ilyichevsk settlement during two archaeological expeditions in 1965-1968 and 1989, respectively. As part of this work, an analysis of publications of excavation materials and reports stored in the archive of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences was carried out to determine the historiographic cliché that are present in historiography. We have made clarifications and additions to the published materials. In the second chapter of the work, a comparative analysis of the masonry of the churches walls, the mortars used in it and the interior decoration of small churches was carried out, which led to the conclusion that there were several building traditions. The need for a more detailed study of construction techniques for fortifications is indicated. In the third chapter of the work, the systematization of the materials of the altar templon from the church No. 1 of the Ilyichevsk settlement, which has not yet been fully introduced into scientific circulation, was carried out. An attempt was made to contextualize this altar barrier in the circle of the altar barriers of the region.