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Cathedral of the Annunciation ("Cathedral Church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is at the top of the Great Sovereign" or "in the hallway") (Успенский Собор) is an Orthodox church in Moscow, located on the Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin. Consecrated in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, it was the first home church of the Moscow Grand Dukes and Tsars of the 16th century and the first Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich until the construction of the Verkhospassky Cathedral.
The first Assumption Cathedral in Moscow was founded on August 4,
1326 under Ivan Kalita, and consecrated on August 14, 1327. It was
founded by the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus' Peter, who transferred
his throne from Vladimir to Moscow. Initially, it was a single-domed
white-stone three-apse temple, crowned with kokoshniks, to which side
chapels were later added. In style, it resembled the Vladimir-Suzdal
buildings of the early 13th century, in particular the St. George's
Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky. The temple was built in the technique
characteristic of that time: masonry of roughly processed squares of
white stone was combined with smooth-hewn elements of architectural
decoration. The icon of Our Lady Hodegetria, with feasts in the fields,
brought from Byzantium, was kept in the cathedral.
During a major
fire in 1470 that raged in the Kremlin, the northern chapel of the
temple collapsed - the Church of Adoration of the Apostle Peter's chains
- the vaults cracked, after which they were strengthened with massive
logs. Metropolitan of All Rus' Philip acted as the initiator of
renovation of the cathedral. The reason for the restructuring was also
the change in the status of Moscow, which became the political and
spiritual center of the Russian state. To raise funds, all monasteries
were taxed, and the laity and clergy were called for donations. The
project was entrusted to the masters Krivtsov and Myshkin, Vladimir
Grigoryevich and Ivan Vladimirovich Khovrin, as well as Vasily Yermolin,
supervised the work. Under Ivan III in 1472, a solemn ceremony of laying
the foundation stone of the temple took place. As a model of
construction, the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir was chosen. A
temporary wooden church was built inside the building, in which Ivan III
married Sophia Paleolog.
The construction that had begun was not
completed: the temple, erected to the vaults, collapsed after the
“coward” - an earthquake that occurred in Moscow on May 20, 1474. The
chronicler testifies:
... be a coward in the city of Moscow and the
church of St. Theotokos, it was already made up to the upper chambers,
falling at 1 o'clock in the morning, and the temples were all shaking,
as if the earth was shaking.
The researchers cited insufficient
mortar strength and thin sidewalls as the cause of the failure. To
complete the construction, the Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti
was invited to Moscow. According to his project, the cathedral was
erected from hewn blocks of white stone and brick, which laid out the
pillars, vaults and drums of heads. Iron piles were laid in them to
strengthen the walls. The facades were divided into vertical ledges. In
the southeastern part, two aisles were arranged - Dmitrievsky and
Pokhvalsky - separated by a low wall. The temple was consecrated on
August 12, 1479 by Metropolitan Gerontius. In 1481, the cathedral was
painted by the icon painter Dionysius and his students, at the same time
a three-tiered iconostasis was built; the temple was completely painted
by 1514-1515. Sergey Zagraevsky points out the peculiarity of the
architect's engineering idea: the bricks were built into the masonry in
such a way that the whole building retained its white stone appearance.
During the restoration after the fire of 1547, the top of the temple
was covered with gilded copper sheets, and the relics of Metropolitan
Peter were transferred from a silver shrine to a gold one. At the same
time, the western portal of the cathedral was designed in the form of a
porch-loggia on columns with double hanging arches - a motif that was
subsequently widely used in Russian architecture (later the porch was
turned into a closed vestibule). In the middle of the 16th century,
murals appeared on the outer walls (the southern portal and the eastern
wall). In 1561, four ancient images were brought from Veliky Novgorod
and placed in the Assumption Cathedral: “The Savior on the Throne
(Savior of the Golden Robe)”, “The Apostles Peter and Paul”, “Ustyug
Annunciation” and “Odegetria the Mother of God”.
In 1624, the
arches that threatened to fall were dismantled and restored again with
additional reinforcement with cohesive iron and with the introduction of
girth arches. In 1625, the Lord's robe was transferred to the cathedral,
sent as a gift to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich by the Persian Shah Abbas I.
In honor of this event, the holiday "The Position of the Lord's Robe"
was established. The precious ark with the robe was placed in a bronze
tent to store sacred relics.
In 1642-1644, the cathedral was
repainted according to the samples of 1515. Until now, fragments of the
original wall painting, which is the oldest example of fresco painting
in the Kremlin, have been preserved. Among the masters were Ivan and
Boris Paiseins, Sidor Osipov Pospeev, Mark Matveev, Bazhen Savin, Stepan
Efemov, icon painters and denominators from Vladimir, Novgorod, Kostroma
and other cities. They wrote 249 plot compositions and 2066 individual
figures. In the 1660s, the painting of the outer walls was updated:
above the altars, above the northern and western doors. In the second
half of the 17th century, the Pokhvalsky chapel, in which services were
held only on the patronal feast, was moved to the southeastern chapter,
and only the Dimitrievsky chapel was left in its original place in the
southeastern part of the temple. At the same time, rectangular windows
were pierced (two in the lower part of the southeastern apses, one on
the southern facade). By this time, the cathedral owned 160 courtyards,
and by the 1670s - 253. In 1680, the master Vasily Romanov painted the
sacristy of the cathedral with floral ornaments; this ornament is hidden
by later oil writing. In 1682, a fire broke out in the cathedral, after
which it was overhauled. In 1683, the vaults and drums were reinforced
again, the white-stone archivolts were removed and replaced with brick
ones. To protect the spindles from the rain, roofing iron canopies were
arranged over them.
The Trinity fire of 1737 damaged the frescoes
of the cathedral and the integrity of the walls. Repair work was carried
out during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna under the guidance of
architect Ivan Michurin. The restoration of the murals began in 1767. In
1775, by order of Prince Grigory Potemkin, icons from the Armory were
transferred to the cathedral, which were placed in iconostases near the
northern and southern walls. In the 1790s they were closed with gold and
silver salaries[30]. In 1797, the Act of Succession to the Throne issued
by Paul I, which canceled the decree of Peter I of 1722, was transferred
to the cathedral for safekeeping.
During the occupation of Moscow
by the French in 1812, the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the robe
of the Lord, the Korsun crosses and other valuables were taken out of
the cathedral. Among the tombs of the saints, only the shrine of
Metropolitan Jonah survived. Stalls for horses were arranged in the
premises of the temple. The vestments from the icons were melted down
into 5.3 tons of silver and 290 kg of gold. Part of the metal was
returned during the retreat of the troops; in 1817, craftsman A. Gedlung
cast a chandelier from it, decorated with images of flowers, ears of
corn, and vines. The cathedral was re-consecrated on August 30, 1813 by
Bishop Augustin (Vinogradsky) of Dmitrovsky.
In 1823, the
manifesto of Alexander I was placed in the cathedral for safekeeping,
according to which, in the event of his death, in connection with the
abdication of the rights to the throne of Konstantin Pavlovich, Grand
Duke Nikolai Pavlovich became the heir to the crown. By the time of the
coronation of Alexander III in the 1880s, the church was being
renovated. 200 thousand rubles were spent on its restoration. Once
again, the cathedral was restored in 1896 before the coronation of
Nicholas II, the icon painters Grigory Chirikov and Mikhail Mikhailovich
Dikarev, as well as the architect Sergei Rodionov, supervised the work.
During the restoration, frescoes from the middle of the 17th century
were uncovered, icons were restored, and ceilings over the apses were
replaced. The windows in the arched belt were reduced to the size of the
upper ones and decorated with semicircular lintels.
According to the work done at the end of the century, it was decided
to carry out a complete disclosure of ancient painting. In 1910, a
commission was created to monitor the work, the members of which were
Vladimir Suslov, Nikolai Pokrovsky, Pyotr Pokryshkin, Alexander
Uspensky, Nikolai Likhachev. Aleksey Shirinsky-Shikhmatov was appointed
head of the commission, Sergei Solovyov became the producer of the work,
and after his death in 1912, Ivan Mashkov. As a result of the work, the
restorers completed the plots, the backgrounds of the images were
gilded, and the painting was strengthened with poppy drying oil.
On August 15, 1917, on the patronal feast, the All-Russian Local Council
of the Russian Orthodox Church opened in the cathedral, which made a
decision in October to restore the patriarchate in the Russian Church,
and on November 21 of the same year, Patriarch Tikhon (Bellavin) was
enthroned.
However, already in October, the Assumption Cathedral
suffered from shelling, when the Red Guards bombarded the Kremlin
occupied by the Junkers. A shell hit the dome, damaging the domes, the
altar wall was covered with potholes from bullets and shrapnel, windows
were broken, the painting was damaged, and the chandeliers were bent.
The inspection report stated:
The blows of these fragments were so
strong that they pushed whole bricks inside the cathedral, and the
plaster with paintings in several places fell off and peeled off from
these shifts <...> there is an oval gap in the dome drum, the
southwestern sail under the drum of the Pokhvalsky chapel causes
concern. Large fragments of stone, brick, lime and brick dust thickly
cover the image above the “treasury”, the tiers of scaffolding, salt and
the floor near the salt <…> this dust covers both the icons of the
iconostasis and all surrounding objects.
On April 22 (May 5),
1918, a service was held for Easter, after which the temple, like the
rest of the Kremlin churches, was closed. The service, which was led by
the vicar of the Moscow diocese, Bishop Trifon (Turkestanov) of
Dmitrovsky, became the plot basis of Pavel Korin's painting "Departing
Rus'". However, the study of frescoes continued. In the first years
after the revolution, the “Vladimir Mother of God”, “Ustyug
Annunciation”, “Savior Not Made by Hands” with “Adoration of the Cross”
on the back, “Savior Golden Hair”, “The Appearance of the Archangel
Michael to Joshua of Nun”, “Angel Golden Hair” were revealed.
In
1922, Gokhran confiscated 13 boxes containing 67 poods, 2 pounds, and 31
spools of silver from the cathedral “for the famine relief fund”. In
1930, icons and historical artifacts were transferred to the Armory and
the State Tretyakov Gallery.
Restoration work in the temple began
shortly after the Great Patriotic War. Icons of the 14th century were
cleared: “The Mother of God Hodegetria”, “The Apostles Peter and Paul”,
“Trinity”, “Praise of the Mother of God with an akathist”. In the summer
of 1955, the cathedral was opened to the public as a museum, and in
February 1960 it was transferred to the jurisdiction of the USSR
Ministry of Culture. In 1978, three figures of saints were found near
the altar barrier and two to the right of the entrance to the
Dmitrievsky chapel.
In 1990, Alexy II was elected to the post of
patriarch in Russia. Since that time, many churches have been
transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The Assumption Cathedral has
retained the status of a museum, since 1991 being in the complex of the
Moscow Kremlin Museum-Reserve. However, with the blessing of the
patriarch, divine services are performed in it on separate days. In
2017, a comprehensive restoration began in the cathedral, in the process
of work it is planned to restore the architectural appearance and
building structures, wall paintings in the interior and on the facades.
In the 2020s, during several years of restoration, new frescoes were
found.
It was created by a medieval Italian master, but the
Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir (XII century) was a model building.
Therefore, in architecture, there are also signs of an ancient Russian
cross-domed church (five-domed, pozakomarnoe covering, aracture-columnar
belt), and features of the structure and construction of the facade,
characteristic of Renaissance architecture. The appearance of the temple
subsequently became an example in the construction of city and monastic
cathedrals (for example, the Assumption Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius
Lavra).
Appearance
The white-stone five-apse five-domed
cathedral is divided into twelve squares of equal size, covered with
cross vaults. Four pillars are round, the other two are cross-shaped.
Vaults, drums, the eastern wall above the altar apses, eastern square
pillars hidden by the altar barrier are laid out of brick. Round pillars
are also made of brick, but lined with white stone. The facade of the
temple consists of piers-strands, delimited by shoulder blades and
completed with semicircles of zakomar; on the northern and southern
walls there are four such strands, on the western and eastern walls
three each. The building is divided horizontally by a decorative belt of
small columns and arches. Narrow slit-like windows are cut through the
walls. The apses of the cathedral are low and covered from the south and
north by pylons. The cathedral is crowned with a group of five domes,
shifted to the east.
Aristotle Fioravanti, performing the task of
increasing the internal volume of the temple, which his predecessors
Krivtsov and Myshkin could not cope with, for the first time in Russian
architecture used one-brick-thick cross vaults, metal intra-wall and
opening connections. Thanks to the construction of additional arches
behind the iconostasis, the eastern compartments of the cathedral
actually turned into a monolith, holding the load from the drums. Thanks
to this, it became possible to erect thin round pillars in the central
and western parts of the building, which created a feeling of lightness
of construction and wholeness (“hallhood”) of the part of the naos
intended for worshipers.
On the southern facade there is an image
of the "Vladimir Mother of God" with the archangels Michael and Gabriel.
Below are six frescoes of saints - Moscow metropolitans Peter, Alexy,
Jonah, Philip, and Novgorod saints - Bishop Nikita and Archbishop John.
On the north side are images of Pafnuty Borovsky, Isaiah, Leonty and
Ignatius of Rostov, Dmitry Prilutsky and Sergius of Radonezh. Above them
is the composition "Cathedral of the Apostles" with images of Christ,
the Mother of God, John the Baptist and the twelve apostles. In the
eastern part of the building, the murals occupy the upper part of the
wall, in semicircular vaults. In the center is the "New Testament
Trinity" - God the Father in the form of an old man, God the Son and the
Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.
The southern portal is
represented by copper double-leaf gates, which, according to legend,
were brought from Korsun by Vladimir Monomakh in the 12th century. They
are covered in gold with 20 biblical images. Members of the royal family
entered the building through this entrance, and Moscow saints through
the north entrance. The western portal was used for solemn processions:
during religious processions, coronations.
In the center of the cathedral, against the background
of the Jerusalem wall, there are three crosses, on which crucified
thieves and figures of two angels are depicted on either side of Christ.
At the northwestern corner, a stone memorial cross was erected in honor
of Metropolitan Jonah, who was buried in the church. The cathedral is
illuminated by a chandelier made by the master Gedlung in 1817 (cast
from silver stolen by the French and beaten off by the Cossacks),
hanging candlesticks brought from the Solovetsky Monastery.
The
murals of the cathedral mainly date from 1642-1643, partly covered with
oil painting as a result of renovations in 1777 and 1853; frescoes of
the 17th century are most fully revealed on the northern pair of
pillars, in the altar and in the sacristy. The original frescoes of the
1480s, which were considered completely lost before repairs at the end
of the 19th century, partially survived on the altar barrier
(half-figures of saints) and in the aisles of the cathedral. In terms of
the manner of execution, they are close to the work of Dionysius. These
are the "Adoration of the Magi" and "Praise of the Virgin" in the
Pokhvalsky chapel; "Three Youths in a Cave of Fire" and "The Life of the
Apostle Peter" in the Peter and Paul Chapel; "The Nativity of John the
Baptist" in the narrow corridor leading to the Dmitrievsky chapel. On
the southern wall of the Peter and Paul chapel, which separates it from
the altar, a slightly later (at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries)
fresco “The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste” has also been preserved (out of 40
figures, 24 survived). On the vaults of the cathedral there are
compositions on evangelical themes, among which are “The Entrance of the
Mother of God into the Temple”, “The Nativity of Christ”, “The
Presentation of the Lord” and others. The figures of martyrs are
depicted on the pillars. The southern and northern walls are decorated
with images dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos, the western one is
decorated with the scene of the Last Judgment. On the altar barrier of
the cathedral are the faces of 26 saints. Due to the completeness of the
cycles of frescoes and their thoughtfulness, the painting of the
Assumption Cathedral has become a model for many other Russian churches.
In the southwestern corner of the temple there is a bronze openwork
tent by Dmitry Sverchkov (1625), originally used to store church relics;
in 1913, the tomb of Patriarch Hermogenes, who died in 1612 during the
Polish intervention, was moved under the tent. There are prayer places
near the iconostasis: for the queens, arranged next to the northern
pillar in the 17th century, the patriarchal place of the 15th century
(painting of the 17th century), and the royal one, created for Ivan the
Terrible.
Among the numerous precious utensils and deposits kept
in the Assumption Cathedral, a silver gilded ark (or Little Zion, used
during solemn services) and the framework of the Gospel of Metropolitan
Simon (1499; decorated with embossing, casting, enamel, filigree) stand
out. Both relics are now kept in the Armory.
The ancient table iconostasis, originally
three-tiered, by 1627 four-tiered, has not been preserved; three of its
tiers were decorated with a silver basma setting, while the upper one,
made of iron, was covered with gilding. The existing main iconostasis of
the cathedral was created in 1653; 69 icons were painted for it by
masters from Yaroslavl, Kostroma and Ostashkov; new tabla were created
by carvers from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra L. Afanasiev, Ya. Grigoriev,
F. Kondratiev. The iconostasis consists of five tiers and reaches 16
meters in height. In 1654, for the icons of the lower row, icon cases
were made by craftsmen from the Armory, at the same time the royal gates
were arranged. In 1840, the iconostasis was significantly renovated: the
icons were repainted, and some were replaced by paintings on canvas;
new, imitating ancient basma silver salaries appeared. In the 1880s and
1890s, dilapidated wooden parts were replaced, and a new gilded silver
setting was created.
The icon of the Holy Trinity is placed in
the forefather rank. The forefathers are drawn in full growth, with
scrolls in their hands. The prophetic tier consists of 17 icons
depicting prophets in front of Our Lady of the Sign. In the festive row
there are images that reflect the gospel events that are annually
celebrated by the church. Among them are "The Nativity of the Mother of
God", "Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos", "Baptism", "Entry of
the Lord into Jerusalem", "Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos". The
Deesis tier describes the prayerful presence of the saints at the Last
Judgment before Christ the Almighty, the twelve apostles and the icon of
the Almighty Savior, installed in the center. In the lower local row
there are icons of the Golden Robe of the Savior, painted at the end of
the 17th century by the iconographer Kirill Ivanov Ulanov, the temple
image of the Assumption, the Savior of the Bright Eye. On the Royal
Doors are depicted the Mother of God, the Archangel Gabriel and the four
evangelists - Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. To the right of them is the
icon of the Savior on the Throne, dating back to the 11th century.
Near the southern wall in bronze iconostases, installed at the end
of the 19th century, icons of the 16th-17th centuries are placed. Among
them is "Metropolitan Peter in the Life", presumably written by
Dionysius. In the northern iconostasis there are images brought in 1923
from the Solovetsky Monastery: “Our Lady of Bogolyubskaya, with the life
of Zosima and Savvaty of the Solovetskys”, “It is worthy to eat”,
“Descent into Hell” and others.
Especially revered icons were
placed in the iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral, now many of them
are in museums. Some icons are associated with the first Assumption
Cathedral of the 14th century. These are the aforementioned icon “Savior
the Bright Eye” (XIV century), “Trinity” (mid-XIV century, recorded by
Tikhon Filatiev in 1700), “Our Lady of Vladimir” (Byzantine icon of the
first third of the XII century, first placed in the cathedral in 1395,
then returned to Vladimir and in 1480 again transferred to Moscow; now
in the State Tretyakov Gallery). Several icons were taken by Ivan the
Terrible from Novgorod - "The Savior Not Made by Hands" (XII century,
now in the State Tretyakov Gallery), "The Tsar as King" or "The Queen
Appears" (a Serbian icon of the XIV century), "Saint George" (XII
century, in the State Tretyakov Gallery), "Ustyug Annunciation" (between
1119 and 1130, in the State Tretyakov Gallery). Among other ancient
icons are the “Shouldered Deesis” (XII century), “The Savior Golden
Hair” (XIII century), “The Appearance of the Archangel Michael to
Joshua” (XIII century), “The Mother of God of Iberian” (list of the
XII-XIII centuries), “Boris and Gleb" (XIV century). Some icons were
commissioned, probably already for the existing cathedral building built
in the 15th century: such as “Assumption of the Virgin”, “Rejoices in
You”, “Metropolitan Peter in Life”, “Metropolitan Alexei in Life”,
“Apocalypse” . These are the works of the 1480-1510s of the school of
Dionysius.
In front of the iconostasis, near the southern wall, there is a tall tent made of walnut and linden wood. It was installed by order of Ivan the Terrible and was called the "Royal Place". It rests on the figures of four animals with pressed ears and bared teeth and reaches 6.5 meters in height. All elements of the Monamakh throne are richly decorated with carved ornaments: floral, floral, images of birds and animals. The walls of the quadrangle are decorated with twelve wooden bas-reliefs. The octagonal dome is decorated with three rows of kokoshniks and crowned with a double-headed eagle. The frieze is covered with scripture inscriptions. Twelve bas-reliefs are carved on the columns of the throne, illustrating the plots of the “Tales of the Princes of Vladimir”, telling about the history of royal regalia. In 1907, the painting of the monument was reconstructed, ornaments and inscriptions were gilded.
1st floor (from left to right, from the northeast dome
to the southeast):
Peter and Paul chapel / chapel of the Adoration of
the chains of the Apostle Peter
(altar)
Chapel of Demetrius of
Thessalonica
(stairs to the 2nd floor to the sacristy and library)
2nd floor:
Chapel of Praise of the Virgin
The first wedding to the throne in the Assumption
Cathedral took place in 1498. At the ceremony, Ivan III handed over
barmas and the Cap of Monomakh to his grandson Dmitry. In 1547, at his
wedding, Ivan IV assumed the titles of tsar and autocrat, and his
regalia included a pectoral cross, scepter and chain. The building also
hosted the Zemsky Sobor of 1613, at which Mikhail Fedorovich was elected
tsar. In 1721, Peter I introduced the rite of coronations of emperors in
the cathedral: the royal crown was replaced by a crown, barmas - by a
mantle. The last coronation took place on May 14, 1896. 2,500 people
were hired to prepare the ceremony. For the clergy, gold-woven brocade
vestments were made.
Marriages took place in the Assumption
Cathedral. In 1391, Metropolitan Cyprian married Grand Duke Vasily
Dmitrievich to the Lithuanian Princess Sophia Vitovtovna. In 1472, the
solemn marriage of Ivan III and Sophia Paleolog took place, in 1505 -
Vasily III and Solomonia Saburova.
Since 1382, Russian saints - metropolitans and
patriarchs - were buried in the Assumption Cathedral. The tomb was
conceived for the burial of the secular and spiritual rulers of the
Moscow principality, but after the construction of the Archangel
Cathedral in 1333, the necropolis was divided. In the Assumption
Cathedral they began to bury only the heads of the Russian Church. In
total, twenty people were buried in it. The last to be buried was
Patriarch Adrian, who died in 1698. The graves of the metropolitans of
the 14th - mid-16th centuries are located in the altar of the cathedral,
in the southwestern corner and along the northern wall. Russian
patriarchs of the 17th century are buried near the southern and western
walls. Most of the burials are located under the floor of the cathedral
and are marked in the interior by low, rectangular monuments with flat
lids. The tombstones of the patriarchs, unlike those of the
metropolitans, retained carved white stone slabs with epitaphs. In 1913,
all the tombs were covered with silver-plated brass covers with
eight-pointed gilded crosses and black inscriptions on the covers. They
were made by the firm of Ivan Khlebnikov. In the Peter and Paul aisle
are the relics of Philip II and Metropolitan Peter, who founded the
temple. Prince Yuri Danilovich of Moscow, Vladimir and Novgorod, who
died in 1325, was buried in the cathedral, but his grave has been lost.
Next to the patriarchal tombs is the Holy Sepulcher, in which the staff
of Metropolitan Peter and the Nail of the Lord are kept. From 1929 to
1948, the relics of Metropolitan Alexy (Byakont) were kept in the
temple, after which they were transferred to the Epiphany Cathedral in
Yelokhovo. The relics of the Metropolitans of Moscow Theodosius, Joasaph
and Dionysius (formerly of Suzdal) are not present in the Assumption
Cathedral.
In the walls of the temple are buried:
Metropolitans of Kyiv
Saint Peter
Saint Theognost
Saint Cyprian
Saint Photius
Saint Jonah
Metropolitans of Moscow
Saint Philip
I
Saint Gerontius
Simon
Saint Macarius
Saint Philip II
Patriarchs of Moscow
Job
Hermogenes
Filaret
Joasaph I
Joseph
Joasaph II
Pitirim
Joachim
Adrian
Relics of Saints Metropolitans Peter, Theognost,
Cyprian, Photius, Jonah, Philip I, Gerontius, Simon, Macarius, Philip
II, Patriarchs Job and Hermogenes of Moscow;
A copy of the staff of
St. Peter;
Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God;
Two lists of the
Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God;
Ancient revered copy of the
Peter's Icon of the Mother of God;
Korsun cross;
Icon of Dionysius
"Metropolitan Peter in Life".
Before the revolution of 1917, annual religious
processions were held from the Assumption Cathedral (dates are given
according to the Julian calendar):
January 6 - “march to the Jordan”:
through the Tainitsky Gate to the Moscow River for the blessing of
water, in memory of the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Jordan
River;
May 21 - to the Church of the Vladimir Icon of Our Lady, on
Nikolskaya Street, in memory of the deliverance of Russia from the
invasion of the Crimean, Nagai and Kazan Tatars in 1521, led by
Mahmed-Girey;
July 8 - to the Kazan Cathedral, in honor of the
appearance of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God;
July 20 - to the
Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah, which is on Vorontsov Field, in
memory of deliverance from the drought that happened in the 16th and
17th centuries, and following the example of Novgorod and Pskov, where
there were churches of St. Elijah dry and wet and religious walks were
performed in honor of the great saint God's Elijah, who with his prayers
gives a bucket and rain;
July 28 - to the Novodevichy Convent in
honor of the icon of Our Lady Hodegetria of Smolensk, as well as in
memory of the capture of the city of Smolensk from the Poles and in
memory of the solemn departure of this icon from Moscow back to
Smolensk;
August 1, the day of the origin of the Honest Trees of the
Holy Cross, through the Tainitsky Gate to the Moscow River, to
consecrate the water in memory of the miracles performed by the
Life-Giving Cross of the Lord in 1143-1180;
August 19 - to the
Donskoy Monastery, in honor of the Don Icon of the Mother of God and in
memory of the deliverance of Moscow from the invasion of the Tatars led
by Kazy-Girey in 1591.
August 26 - to the Sretensky Monastery in
memory of the meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, brought
from Vladimir to Moscow and in memory of the deliverance of Russia from
the invasion of the Tatars by Khan Tamerlane in 1395.
October 1 - to
the Intercession Cathedral (St. Basil's Cathedral), in memory of the
conquest of Kazan in 1552, as well as in honor of the Pskov-Pokrovskaya
Icon of the Mother of God in memory of the miraculous deliverance of
Pskov from the Poles by the troops of Stefan Batory in 1581 and in
memory of the victory over the Turks and Tatars after the war with them
from 1736 to 1740.
October 4-5 - until 1875, on October 5, three
Moscow saints were celebrated: Peter, Alexei and Jonah, but in 1875, at
the request of Metropolitan Innocent of Moscow, a fourth was added - St.
Philip. According to the establishment of October 4, before Vespers, the
icon of St. Alexis was transferred with a procession of the cross from
the Chudov Monastery to the Assumption Cathedral, where it remained and
before Vespers the next day, this icon was taken back in a procession of
the cross.
October 12 - around the Kremlin in memory of the
liberation of Moscow from the French in 1812. The entire Moscow clergy
took part in the process, and only on this holiday were the holy icons
carried around the Kremlin walls: Iveron, Vladimir and Annunciation and
two banners that were with the Moscow militia.
October 22 - to the
Kazan Cathedral, in memory of the deliverance of Moscow from the
invasion of the Poles in 1612. Initially, the Kazan Icon of the Mother
of God was installed in the parish church of Prince D.M. Pozharsky -
Introduction to the Church of the Mother of God, which is on Sretenskaya
Street and the processions were made there, and with the construction of
the Kazan Cathedral the icon and procession were moved there.
During Easter week - daily from the Assumption
Cathedral to other cathedrals and monasteries of the Kremlin. in memory
of the appearance of Jesus Christ to the disciples after His
resurrection from the dead, and departed from the cathedral at the end
of Matins. The order of moves is as follows: Monday - to the
Annunciation Cathedral; Tuesday - to the Archangel Cathedral; Wednesday
- to the Chudov Monastery; Thursday - to the Spassky Cathedral on Bor;
Friday - to the Ascension Monastery; Saturday - to Gostunsky (St.
Nicholas) Cathedral.
On the day of Midsummer - to the Moscow River to
consecrate the water, in remembrance of the Divine teaching of Jesus
Christ in the Temple of Jerusalem, during the Feast of Tabernacles,
about the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit.
The Assumption Fast
was established in memory of the visit of the holy apostles to the
Mother of God before Her presentation and was carried out from various
cathedrals and monasteries of the Kremlin to the Assumption Cathedral.
The order of moves is as follows: August 8 - from the Chudov Monastery;
August 9 - from the Church of the Twelve Apostles; August 10 - from the
Cathedral of St. Nicholas, called Gostunsky; August 11 - from the
Ascension Monastery; August 12 - from the Cathedral of the Savior on
Bor; August 13 - from the Archangel Cathedral; August 14 - from the
Annunciation Cathedral.