THE INVESTIGATION OF THE FACTORS WHICH LEAD TO THE DESTRUCTION OF ORTHODOX CHURCH BUILDINGS AND THEIR PARTS

The main characteristic of the buildings, including Orthodox churches, is a reliability index. It depends on the service condition and includes reliability, durability, effective age of a structure and suitability of buildings and their separate elements to repairs [4; 10]. Despite the fact that the greatest losses Ukrainian architectural heritage have suffered from the policy of the communist regime and utilitarian, equally important factor was the low cultural standard of living. A number of lost churches as a result of neglect and "unconscious vandalism" is equal to the losses that were caused by the First and Second World Wars [2; 9]. As a result of the increase, the intensity of the adverse factors impact on Orthodox churches building their reliability is reduced. Since the dominant number of scientific publications dealing with technical condition and methods of restoration only for particular buildings, it is still no common data on the primary cause of the destruction of Orthodox churches. The main unexplored issues include the following: 1) what kinds of structural destructions have a mass character; 2) what kinds of what factors have a critical role in reducing building reliability index; 3) what are the main causes of the loss of interior decoration of churches. Research in this area will help to prioritize the development of constructive and technological solutions for the restoration of Ukrainian sacral architectural heritage. The purpose of the article. To identify factors which have the most impact on the durability of supporting structures of stone Orthodox churches (including which were built before 1917) and preserve their interior decoration on the basis of the expert survey. Conclusion. According to the results of expert evaluation and calculations, found that: cupolas, vaults (domes) and vertical bearing structures suffered the most significant losses; the main destructive factors of Orthodox churches can be considered disturbance of building structural scheme of the building, disturbance of service condition, temperature and humidity condition; mistakes in the design and construction of churches caused minimal loss of Orthodox church (due to the fact that churches are considered those that have survived).