Bochka roof

The bochka roofs of the Transfiguration Church in Kizhi, holding onion domes above. 18th century.

Bochka roof or simply bochka (Russian: бочка, barrel) is the type of roof in the traditional Russian architecture that has a form of half-cylinder with elevated and sharpened upper part, resembling the sharpened kokoshnik. In English it is sometimes designated by the term barrel roof, but the confusion may arise here, since outside Russia barrel roofs are just simple curved roofs, resembling a cut-away barrel from inside.

Stone gates in Kolomenskoye, covered with wooden double cross bochka roof. 17th-century.

Typically made of wood, bochka roof was extensively used both in the church and civilian architecture in the 17th-18th centuries. Later it was sometimes used in the Russian Revival style buildings.

The intersection of two bochkas forms a so-called cross bochka (Russian: крещатая бочка), or cube cover (Russian: кубоватое покрытие).

See also

• Kokoshnik (architecture)
• Barrel roof

External links

• Bochka (architecture) at the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (Russian)
• An illustration of the cross bochka