Onion dome

History

According to historian Wolfgang Born, the onion dome has its origin in Syria, where some Umayyad Caliphate-era mosaics depict early stages of the development of bulbous domes. An early prototype of onion dome also appeared in Chehel Dokhter, a mid-11th century Seljuk architecture in Damghan region of Iran.

It is not completely clear when and why the onion dome gained popularity in Russian architecture, but buildings featuring them appeared as early as the 13th century, reaching a peak by the 17th and 18th centuries, up until the Petrine period. Some suggest they had a decorative advantage over typical Byzantine and helmet dome, while also not gathering as much snow during severe winters.{{cite encyclopedia |access-date=November 8, 2025}} The largest onion domes of that time were erected in areas around Yaroslavl. A number of these had more complicated bud-shaped domes, whose form derived from Baroque models of the late seventeenth century. Pear-shaped domes are usually associated with Ukrainian Baroque, while cone-shaped domes are typical for Orthodox churches of Transcaucasia.

Later, the Moors also brought the design to Spain, and Islamic influence in the 17th century may be responsible for its introduction in Vienna, where it can be seen on many Baroque structures. Throughout Austria and Bavaria, onion domes top innumerable small churches.

Some scholars suggest that onion domes first appeared in Russia during the reign of Ivan the Terrible (). The domes of Saint Basil's Cathedral have not been altered since the reign of Ivan's son Fyodor I (), indicating the presence of onion domes in sixteenth-century Russia. Thus, Russians may have adopted onion domes from Muslim countries, possibly from the Khanate of Kazan, whose conquest in 1552 Ivan the Terrible commemorated by erecting St. Basil's Cathedral. Some scholars believe that onion domes first appeared in Russian wooden architecture above tent-like churches. According to this theory, they were strictly utilitarian.

In 1946 Boris Rybakov analysed russian chronicles and concluded, that most of them, from the 13th century onward, feature onion instead of helmet shaped dome, suggesting that this style could not be imported from the Orient, where they did not replace spherical domes until the 15th century Historians like Nikolay Voronin seconded his point of view.

Later Sergey Zagraevsky surveyed icons and miniatures, dating as early as 11th century. He concluded that most icons painted after the Mongol invasion of Rus display only onion domes. The first onion domes were displayed on some pictures of the 12th century. According to him, single icon from the 15th century represented a helmet dome church. His findings led him to dismiss fragments of these dome types discovered by restorators beneath modern onion domes as post-Petrine stylisations intended to reproduce the familiar forms of Byzantine cupolas, like the rebuilt Assumption Cathedral and the Cathedral of Saint Demetrius in Vladimir. As well as restoration works on several other ancient churches that have revealed fragments of former helmet-like domes.

He also indicated that the oldest depictions of the two Vladimir cathedrals represent them as having onion domes, prior to their replacement by classicizing helmet domes. He explains the ubiquitous appearance of onion domes in the late thirteenth century by the general emphasis on verticality characteristic of Russian church architecture from the late twelfth to early fifteenth centuries. At that time, porches, pilasters, vaults and drums were arranged to create a vertical thrust, to make the church seem taller than it was.

Another consideration proposed by Zagraevsky links the onion-shaped form of Russian domes with the weight of traditional Russian crosses, which are much larger and more elaborate than those used in Byzantium and Kievan Rus. Such ponderous crosses would have been easily toppled, if they had not been fixed to sizeable stones traditionally placed inside the elongated domes of Russian churches. It is impossible to place such a stone inside the flat dome of the Byzantine type, which were characterized by broader, flatter domes without a special framework erected above the drum. In contrast to this ancient form, each drum of a Russian church is surmounted by a special structure of metal or timber, which is lined with sheet iron or tiles, while the onion architecture is mostly very curved. Russian architecture used the dome shape not only for churches but also for other buildings.

Symbolism

Main article: Symbolism of domes

Prior to the eighteenth century, the Russian Orthodox Church did not assign any particular symbolism to the exterior shape of a church. Nevertheless, onion domes are popularly believed to symbolise burning candles. In 1917, religious philosopher Prince Evgenii Troubetzkoy argued that the onion shape of Russian church domes may not be explained rationally. According to Trubetskoy, drums crowned by tapering domes were deliberately scored to resemble candles, thus manifesting a certain aesthetic and religious attitude.

Another explanation has it that the onion dome was originally regarded as a form reminiscent of the aedicula (cubiculum) in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The present structure dates back to 12th-century construction by the Crusaders.

Internationally

Elsewhere in Europe

Western and Central regions

Baroque domes in the shape of an onion (or other vegetables or flower-buds) were common in the Holy Roman Empire as well. The first one was built in 1576 by the architect Johannes Holl (1512–1594) on the church of the Convent of the Franciscan Sisters of Maria Stern in Augsburg. Usually made of copper sheet, onion domes appear on Catholic churches all over southern Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Sardinia and Northeast Italy. Onion domes were also a favourite of 20th-century Austrian architectural designer Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

File:Mittersill.jpg|Church of Saint Leonard in Mittersill, Austria File:St. Maria Ramersdorf-München 1.jpg|St. Mary's Church in Munich, Germany File:Onion Dome Copper.jpg|Traditional construction and copper cladding, Munich, Germany File:Onion Dome from the Inside.jpg|Inside the dome during construction, Munich, Germany File:Kirchturmspitze oristano duomo santa maris assunta.JPG|Cupola of Oristano cathedral's bell tower in Sardinia, Italy File:Parrocchia di Santa Sofia V.M., San Vero Milis, Oristano, Sardinia, Italy - panoramio.jpg|Santa Sofia church in San Vero Milis, Sardinia, Italy File:St-lazare-cour.jpg|San Lazzaro degli Armeni from Venice, Italy File:Fläsch Autumn 2020 05.jpg|Church of St. Amandus in Fläsch, Switzerland File:20070830015DRDresden-Südvorstadt Russisch-Othodoxe Kirche.jpg|Group of three blue domes at the St. Simeon of the Wonderful Mountain Church in Dresden, Germany

Southern and Balkan countries

File:Куполата на црквата „Св. Никола“ во Селци.jpg|Cupola of St. Athanasius Church in Selci (North Macedonia)

Asia

South Asia

The onion dome was also used extensively in Mughal architecture, which later went on to influence Indo-Saracenic architecture. It is also a common feature in Sikh architecture, particularly in Gurudwaras, and sometimes seen in Rajput architecture as well.

Taj Mahal (Edited).jpeg|The Taj Mahal in Agra, India, is the most famous example of Mughal architecture, featuring onion domes. Badshahi Mosque 33 (edited).jpg|Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan AkalTakht NishanSahib.JPG|Gilded onion domes of the Akal Takht in Amritsar, Punjab, India Madras-02-High Court-1976-gje.jpg|Madras High Court, an example of Indo-Saracenic architecture in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Middle East

Outside the Indian subcontinent, it is also used in Iran and other places in the Middle East and Central Asia. At the end of the 19th century, the Dutch-built Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Aceh, Indonesia, which incorporated onion shaped dome. The shape of the dome has been used in numerous mosques in Indonesia since then.

File:Meuseujid_Raya.JPG|Baiturrahman Grand Mosque from Aceh (Indonesia) File:Masjid_Ubudiah.jpg|Ubudiah Mosque in Kuala Kangsar, Perak (Malaysia) File:Jining Chongjue Si Tieta 2015.08.13 17-20-26.jpg|Pagoda of Chongjue Temple in Shandong (China)

The Americas

The World's Only Corn Palace, a tourist attraction and basketball arena in Mitchell, South Dakota, also features onion domes on the roof of the structure.

File:CornPalace2008.jpg|World's Only Corn Palace in Mitchell (South Dakota, USA) File:Longwood by Highsmith 02.jpg|Longwood, in Natchez (Mississippi, USA) File:Main_Street_Springfield_Mass_1905.jpg|Fuller Block in Springfield (Massachusetts, USA), domes since removed

References

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