THE CHOROLOGICAL CONCEPT AND INFORMATION POTENTIAL OF REFERENCE PUBLICATIONS OF THE LATE 18TH - EARLY 20TH CENTURIES IN THE STUDY OF REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE OF RUSSIA (BASED ON CHURCH ARCHITECTURE OF THE VYATKA GOVERNORATE)

The article is devoted to the analysis of the information potential of reference publications of the late 18th - early 20th centuries in the study of church architecture of the Vyatka Governorate. At present, the range of issues and problems raised in architectural studies is very wide and diverse, and art history research is based on different types of sources, such as data collected during field research in the form of expeditions, archival documents, graphic and cartographic materials that give an idea of the architectural features of surviving or lost objects, peculiarities of the establishment of urban plans, improvement and location of architectural structures. The source base also includes reference publications of the late 18th - early 20th centuries, which include the works of the first encyclopedic researchers, historical, geographical and statistical reference books. The purpose of this article is to characterise various reference sources within the framework of the chorological concept, giving an idea of the natural landscape and the construction activities of people. The information potential of sources representing statistical data is presented in the study of regional architecture in the unity between nature, society and man.