Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

MOSCOW 127

The Cathedral of the Annunciation,

crowned by golden onion domes

Tiers of frescoes on the central cupola of the Cathedral of the Archangel

Cathedral of the

Archangel^4

Архангельский собор
Arkhangelskiy sobor

The Kremlin. Map D3. &

This was the last of the great
cathedrals to be built in the
Kremlin. Commissioned by
Ivan III and designed by
Aleviz Novy in 1505, it is a
combination of early-Russian
and Renaissance architecture.
This site was the burial
place for Moscow’s princes
and tsars from 1340. The
tombs of the tsars, white
stone sarcophagi with
bronze covers inscribed
in Old Slavonic, are in the
nave. The tsars, with the
exception of Peter II, who
died in 1730, were no longer
buried here after the capital
was moved to St Petersburg
in 1712. The walls, pillars
and domes of the cathedral
are covered with spectac-
ular frescoes painted by
a team of artists led by
Semen Ushakov, the head
of the icon workshop in
the State Armoury.
There are more than 60
full-length portraits of Russian
rulers and a few striking
images of the Archangel
Michael, the protector of the
rulers of early Moscow. The
cathedral’s four-tiered
iconostasis was constructed
between 1680 and 1681, but
the Icon of the Archangel
Michael on the lowest tier
dates from the 14th century.

Cathedral of the

Annunciation^5

Благовещенский собор

Blagoveshchenskiy sobor

The Kremlin. Map D3. &

Unlike the other cathedrals

in the Kremlin, which were

created by Italian architects,

the Cathedral of the

Annunciation is a wholly

Russian affair. Commissioned

by Ivan III in 1484 as a royal

State Armoury^6

Oружейная палата

Oruzheinaya palata

The Kremlin. Map D3. &

The collection of the State

Armoury represents the

wealth accumulated by

Russian princes and tsars

over many centuries. The first

written mention of a state

armoury occurs in 1508, but

there were forges in the

Kremlin as early as the 13th

century. Later, gold- and silver-

smiths, workshops producing

icons and embroidery, and

the Office of the Royal Stables

all moved into the Kremlin.

The original armoury was

demolished in 1960 to make

way for the State Kremlin

Palace. The current State

Armoury was built as a

museum by Tsar Nicholas I

(r. 1825–55). It was designed

by Konstantin Ton in 1844 and

completed in 1851. It is home

to the State Diamond Fund.

upwards to the cupola and its

awe-inspiring painting of

Christ Pantocrator. Three of

the greatest masters of icon

painting in Russia contributed

to the iconostasis. Theophanes

the Greek painted the images

of Christ, the Virgin and the

Archangel Gabriel in the

Deesis Tier, while the Icon of

the Archangel Michael on this

tier is attributed to Andrey

Rublev. Several of the icons in

the Festival Tier were also

painted by Rublev. Most of the

other icons in this tier are the

work of Prokhor Gorodetskiy.

chapel, it stands beside the

Faceted Palace, which is all

that remains of a large palace

built for Ivan III. The cathedral,

built by archi tects from Pskov,

had three domes and open

gal ler ies on all sides but, after

a fire in 1547, the corner

chapels were added and the

galleries enclosed. On the

south façade is the

Groznenskiy Porch, added by

Ivan the Terrible (see p120)

when he contrave ned church

law by marrying for the fourth

time in 1572. Barred from

attending reli gious services,

he could only watch through

a grille in the porch.

The interior of the cathedral

is painted with frescoes. The

artwork around the iconosta-

sis was painted in 1508 by the

monk Feodosius, son of the

icon painter Dionysius. The

warm colours of the frescoes

create an atmosphere of inti-

macy and the vertical thrust

of the pillars draws the eye

Peter by the famous 15th-
century artist, Dionysius,
painted on the southern
wall of the cathedral.