The one-day votive churches were built in one day from wood. They were simple in design and small in size, and usually lasted a limited time. The construction could start during the preceding night but had to be finished, and the church consecrated, before nightfall. Usually these churches were erected on a site where no previous structure had stood and were built through communal labour. Such votive churches were believed to be effective against epidemics because none of the evil forces responsible for the pandemic could enter the churches during their uninterrupted construction. Most of these churches were built in
Novgorod,
Pskov (nine churches between 1407 and 1532) and
Muscovy in the 14th through 17th centuries, with both cities and rulers financing the construction. According to
Russell Zguta, the appearance of such churches is a uniquely Russian response to the
Black Death, and he compares them to the
Western European response, which also involved religious
rites, votive objects and churches. The tradition declined and eventually disappeared as more rational anti-plague measures were gradually enacted. The tradition of building churches in one day was linked with the
Belarusian custom of weaving votive towels in one day to prevent or fight epidemics among
livestock. ==References==