ONION (E)
oignon (F)
cipolla (i)
cebolla (S)
zweibel (g)
the world’s onion domes
An onion dome, found on many Orthodox churches as well as Catholic churches in Germany, Austria and Eastern Europe, literally resembles an onion. The middle of the dome is bigger than the tower or base on which they sit and their height is usually bigger than their width. They usually taper up to a point, which is often gold and, quite often, onion domes are brightly colored. While they are mostly found on religious buildings, there are great examples of onion domes on commercial buildings, such as the Printemps department store in Paris; the Intercontinental Hotel in Chicago; and numerous Victorian buildings. (Once you start looking for onion domes, you’ll find them everywhere.)
One of the most famous and colorful collections of onion domes is found at Saint Basil’s Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church in Red Square in Moscow. It was built between 1555 and 1561 by Ivan the Terrible and its colors were completed in 1683. It has a foundation of white stone but is made of brick. Often in the background when news reporters are broadcasting breaking news from Moscow.
The cathedral has nine domes, each corresponding to one of the chapels inside and is shaped like the flame of a bonfire rising into the sky. The cathedral is in Red Square but is outside the Kremlin. Confiscated from the Russian Orthodox church as part of the conversion to state atheism after the Russian revolution, it operates as a museum as property of the Russian Federation. Although part of the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square UNESCO site, it is not inside the Kremlin. Since 1997, Russian orthodox Christian services with a prayer to St. Basil have been conducted in the cathedral.
Inside the Kremlin, which is a 90-acre fortress inside a city-(literally, that is what Kremlin means), is another spectacular collection of onion domes. There are three cathedrals in Cathedral Square: Assumption, Archangel, Annunciation, which are just bristling with onion domes. But they’re all white and gold, no colors.
If you remember, an earlier post focused on the ownership of Alaska by Russia. From 1840 to 1872, Sitka was the seat of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America, and St. Michael’s Cathedral, with its onion dome, was the first Russian Orthodox Cathedral built in North America, funded by the Russian America Company. But it’s not the only example of Russian churches and onion domes in Alaska. Your host particularly likes the little church in Ninilchik on the Kenai Peninsula. (If you are a clam lover, Ninilchik is known for its razor clam harvests.)
There are lots of onion domes to be found in southern Germany and Austria. St. Bartholomew’s Church in Berchtesgaden, pictured below, is situated on Königssee lake and is only reachable by boat or a long hike.
All over Austria you can find beautiful onion domes:
This lovely onion dome is in Montafon, Austria while
this onion dome is in Lech, Austria.
St. Michael’s Monastery in Kiev, Ukraine, was the backdrop for much news reporting during the initial days of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian federation in 2022 and is thankfully still standing.
