Cathedral of Archangel (Архангельский Собор) is a medieval Eastern Orthodox Church that stands on Cathedral Square in the Moscow Kremlin. The first temple was constructed in Kremlin in 1247- 48. It was a modest wooden structure that was replaced in 1333 by tsar Ivan Kalita who ordered construction of a stone structure. Newly constructed Archangel Cathedral was consecrated on September 20, 1333 by Metropolit Feognost. Current building was reconstructed in 1505- 8 under supervision of Italian architect Aleviz Novy. New cathedral was consecrated again in 1508 by Metropolit Simon. Cathedral of Archangel was constructed from brick and trimmed with decorations from white stone. The fact that current Cathedral of Archangel was designed by an Italian architect can be seen in architectural motifs of the Italian Renaissance. Orthodox icons of wooden iconostasis that divides altar from the rest of the church date back to 17th- 19th century. Wall murals were painted (or "written") in 1652- 66 by Kazanets Jacob, Joseph Vladimirov and Stephan Ryazanets.
Construction
The first wooden temple in the name of the Holy
Archangel Michael was built, presumably, in 1247-1248 by Moscow Prince
Mikhail Khorobrit, brother of Alexander Nevsky. In 1333, a white-stone
Archangel Church was erected in its place, which was consecrated by
Metropolitan Theognost. The construction was erected by decree of Ivan
Kalita in gratitude for the deliverance of Rus' from hunger caused by
increased, but not given grain rye. Presumably, it was a small one-domed
temple, similar to the Savior on Bor. It served as the tomb of the grand
ducal family. At the end of the 14th century, the cathedral was painted
by the icon painter Theophanes the Greek and his students, and new icons
were created for the high two-tiered iconostasis. During a fire in 1475,
to save the building from fire, the wooden chapels were dismantled in
the name of the Resurrection and the Apostle Akila, which were restored
in 1482.
By the beginning of the 16th century, the temple was
dilapidated and was overflowing with the tombs of the dead. It was
dismantled in 1505 by decree of Ivan III. The construction of the new
cathedral was entrusted to the Italian architect Aleviz, who received
the nickname "New". The relics of the princes were temporarily
transferred to the nearby church of John of the Ladder. The Grand Duke
did not live to see the completion of construction, and he was buried in
the foundation of the cathedral. Work continued under Vasily III. When
the building was brought to the upper chambers, the coffins of the
princes were moved and placed along the walls. Aleviz Novy built a
traditional cross-domed cathedral with elements of Italian architecture.
As a model for his creation, he used the Assumption Cathedral, which
determined the five domes and the division of the altar barrier into
five parts in the Archangel Church. On November 8, 1508, Metropolitan
Simon consecrated him. Three months later, Prince Dimitri, the
half-brother of Grand Duke Vasily III, was buried there. The cathedral
had seven chapels: the First and Second Findings of the Head of the
Prophet John the Baptist, Simeon the Stylite, the Pokrovsky chapel, John
the Merciful, Andrew of Crete, the Renovation of the Church of the
Resurrection of Christ, the Apostle Akila. A few years after the
completion of construction, covered porches were added to the cathedral
from the north and west (the existing southern porch probably dates back
to the 17th century).
XVI-XIX centuries
The cathedral was
damaged in a fire in 1547. The painting, damaged by fire, was restored
by Novgorod and Pskov masters. From 1599 to 1765, special bishops stood
with him, performing memorial services on the days of commemoration of
princes and kings. In 1581, by order of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich
Ivan was buried in the southern apse, at the same time the throne of
John of the Ladder was built there; later, Ivan IV himself and Boris
Godunov were buried there (the ashes of the latter, by order of False
Dmitry I, were transferred to the Varsonofevsky Monastery). In the
middle of the 16th century, a single-domed aisle of the Intercession of
the Virgin was added to the northern apse on the eastern side; at the
end of the century, a symmetrical aisle of John the Baptist appeared
near the southern apse.
In 1606, the ashes of Tsarevich Dimitry
were transferred to the cathedral, and in 1632, a carved white-stone
canopy was placed over his tomb[9]. In 1652, by decree of Tsar Alexei
Mikhailovich, the restoration of wall painting, which had fallen into
disrepair, began. The craftsmen were instructed to knock down the old
painting, compiling its description, and proceed with the implementation
of the new one. However, work was suspended due to lack of money in the
treasury after protracted wars with Poland and Sweden. Restoration
continued in 1660 and completed six years later. At the last stage, the
artel of masters was headed by the isographer Simon Ushakov. Ninety-two
artists worked with him, including: Stepan Rezanets, Sidor Pospeev,
Yakov Kazanets, Fedor Zubov, Fedor Fedorov Kozlov, Iosif Vladimirov,
Gury Nikitin and Sila Savin. In 1677, Ushakov wrote a posthumous parsuna
of Tsars Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich for the cathedral.
In 1680, a new carved iconostasis was created.
The cathedral was
damaged during the Trinity fire in 1737, after which it was overhauled
during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna. The restoration was led by
Prince Dmitry Ukhtomsky. As a result of the work, chased silver gilded
settings for local icons were built, portraits of kings and tombstones
were restored. The central, previously helmet-shaped dome, received an
onion shape, part of the southern facade was covered with white stone
buttresses, decorations were removed from the zakomar. Somewhat later,
due to dilapidation, the western and northern covered porches were
dismantled, and the chapel of John the Baptist was thoroughly rebuilt.
After the establishment of an independent Moscow diocesan administration
in 1742, the Archangel Cathedral became a cathedral. From 1771 to 1801,
the archpriest of the cathedral was Pyotr Alekseev, a lexicographer and
author of the Church Dictionary.
By decree of Catherine II, on
the hem of Borovitsky Hill, next to the Archangel Cathedral, it was
decided to erect the Kremlin Palace according to the project of Vasily
Bazhenov. However, when digging ditches for the foundation, the ground
near the temple began to crumble and cracks appeared on the structure.
The work was stopped, and the southern wall of the cathedral was
reinforced with three buttresses. In 1772, the upper three tiers of the
iconostasis were restored, the gratings near the tombs were restored,
five chandeliers were made, and new covers were made: velvet for royal
tombstones and cloth with crosses made of silver braid for grand ducal
ones.
During the occupation of Moscow by the French in 1812, the
cathedral was devastated: the icons were damaged, the shrines were
deprived of salaries and decorations. Napoleon's kitchen was in the
altar, and wine barrels stood on the royal tombs. After the end of the
Patriotic War, all the stolen jewelry was replaced with new ones, the
icons were washed and the murals were cleaned of soot. The cathedral was
re-consecrated in 1813 by Bishop Augustine (Vinogradsky), vicar of the
Moscow diocese.
In 1826, a two-story chamber for clergymen was
added to the southern wall of the cathedral in place of the former
one-story one, in which the monastery peasants were judged. In 1837, the
middle dome of the cathedral was gilded and sheathed with copper sheets,
four corner domes were covered with white tin, crosses on all domes were
covered with brass and gilded. Ten years later, the Pokrovsky chapel was
transferred to the western interstitial.
The general restoration
of the Archangel Cathedral for the cleaning and renewal of icons and
murals was carried out in 1853 under the guidance of the artist N. A.
Kozlov. In the 1870s, the icons were restored by Nikolai Podklyuchnikov.
In 1895, the temple came under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Palace
Office. Two years later, the restoration of the iconostasis and images
was carried out by the workshop of Yakov Efimovich Epanechnikov under
the supervision of the Moscow Archaeological Society.
According
to the Highest Command, the Holy Synod, by decree No. 809 of February
23, 1895, transferred the Cathedral of the Archangel from the diocesan
to the court department with all property, capital and (temporarily)
clergy.
20th century
In 1913, on the occasion of the 300th
anniversary of the reign of the Romanov dynasty, the interior of the
tomb was renovated in the cathedral, the murals and the main iconostasis
were washed, the Royal Doors were restored, the chandeliers and
candlesticks were cleaned. According to the drawing of Grand Duke Peter
Nikolayevich, a canopy was built over the tomb of Tsar Mikhail
Fedorovich with two massive lamps. They were lit by Emperor Nicholas II,
arriving in the Kremlin on May 24 of the same year.
During the
armed uprising of 1917, the Kremlin was fired from heavy artillery - a
shell hit the temple. From the protocol of inspection of the external
and internal buildings of the complex dated November of the same year:
The shell hit the southern wall of the cathedral and destroyed the
middle part of the left buttress upon exiting the cathedral, forming a
hole in the brickwork about 2 arshins long and wide and up to 10
vershoks deep.
Like other temples of the Kremlin, the cathedral
was closed in 1918, but restoration work began. In the 1920s, local and
large central icons were strengthened and covered with drying oil by
specialists of the All-Russian Artistic Research and Restoration Center
named after I.E. Grabar; the wooden vestibule was removed, which hid the
painting of the loggia on the western facade, and the pseudo-Gothic
portico of the 18th century was dismantled.
In 1934-1935, images
from local and festive ranks were restored: the bases, gesso and paint
layer were strengthened. In the 1950s, murals of the 17th century were
uncovered from under later records. In 1955 the cathedral was converted
into a museum. In the same year, restoration work began, to which the
central scientific and production workshop of the USSR Academy of
Architecture was involved. In 1960, the Kremlin museums were transferred
to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture. In 1962-1965,
architectural and archaeological work was carried out in the Archangel
Cathedral. Anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov recreated the sculptural
portraits of Ivan Vasilyevich and Fyodor Ivanovich based on the remains
found.
In 1969, on the initiative of the chief architect of the
Kremlin, Vladimir Ivanovich Fedorov, the department of the All-Russian
Industrial Research and Restoration Combine carried out the restoration
of painting in the drums of the cathedral. In the 1970s, the frescoes
were restored, the icons were washed, and the design of the iconostasis
was strengthened. Divine services have been held in the cathedral since
1991.
The five-apse cathedral, 21 meters high, is built of white stone.
Five domes are shifted to the east. The central dome is erected above
the ambo, from which the priest delivers sermons, small domes are
installed above the altar. The facade is divided by pilasters and
decorated with two cornices visually dividing the building into two
floors. The lower tier is taller and more powerful, with decorative
arches in the piers, the upper part of the building is smaller and
decorated with wide panels. The walls of the cathedral are divided into
sections. The unequal width of the vertical divisions of the northern
and southern facades is due to the diameter of the drums: the western
ones are wider than the eastern ones. The western façade with three
vertical divisions, in contrast to the north and south, is symmetrical.
Zakomaras are decorated with white-stone shells; initially, acroteria
were located above them in the form of tall vessels. In the processing
of the walls, the motives of the architecture of the Italian Renaissance
are widely used. If in the architecture of the Assumption Cathedral
these motifs are present only in separate features (the completion of
the pylons with an entablature, the allocation of the basement), then in
the design of the facades of the Archangel Cathedral and its interiors
they become the main principle of decoration. Aleviz Novy decorated the
facades with order pilasters with plant capitals, multi-profile cornices
separating zakomaras from the plane of the walls, which the ancient
Russian architects did not do, Renaissance shells and subsequently lost
acroteria. Pilasters are crowned with finely carved capitals in the form
of volutes and acanthus leaves. The interfloor rod and the cornice above
the pilasters are loosened, which makes the vertical division more
accentuated and gives greater harmony to the entire volume. According to
the reconstruction by V. N. Merkelova, the combination of small and
large round rose windows in the central lunette of the western facade
(preserved in a modified form) looks similar to the combination of small
and large round windows of the facade and the arched pediment of the
Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Venice , built by Pietro Lombardo
(1481-1489). Moreover, such techniques are typical of all Venetian
architecture; they are demonstrated, for example, on the southern facade
of the Scuola Grande di San Marco (architects P. Lombardo and M.
Coducci, 1485-1505).
Initially, the domes of the temple were
covered with black-glazed tiles, the walls were probably painted red,
and the details white. In the western part of the cathedral there is a
room separated by a wall, on the second tier there are choirs intended
for the women of the royal family; in the middle part of the room there
is a loggia overlooking the western facade. The walls of the loggia were
painted in the middle of the 16th century on the theme of the baptism of
Rus'; this painting has been updated several times.
Portals made
of white stone are crowned with carved acroteria and decorated with
floral ornaments; the main, western portal is distinguished by the
especially rich and detailed carving. The main entrance of the cathedral
is in a wide recess. On the western facade there are two more side doors
leading to the upper floors of the western extension. Through them it
was possible to get into the cathedral sacristy, which was located in
the cellars, and into the inner chapels. On the east side of the
building adjoin the chapels of St. Ouar and John the Baptist, built in
the second half of the 16th century.
The motifs of the
Renaissance decor, which were widely used for the first time in the
architecture of the Archangel Cathedral, were later often used in
Russian architecture (especially carved portals, cornices, panels,
shells, round zakomar windows).
If in the plastic study of the facades Aleviz Novy went much further than Fioravanti, who designed the Assumption Cathedral, then the design and planning solution he made was quite traditional. Instead of the cross vaults and round pillars used in the Assumption Cathedral, semi-circular vaults and cross-shaped pillars, common for ancient Russian architecture, are used here. The return to the traditional cross-domed system gave rise to fragmentation and uneven divisions inside the temple and deprived it of the volume and “halls” characteristic of the interior of the Assumption Cathedral. The interior space looks more crowded and dark also because the windows in the southern wall were laid in the 18th century during the construction of buttresses, and the area of the side aisles is occupied by the same type of tombstones of princes and kings, set in 1630-1638. All this interferes with the perception of the order decoration introduced by the architect into the interior of the cathedral: the cross-shaped pillars that create a rhythm and the pilasters that correspond to them on the walls, the cornice that bypasses the arms of the cross at the level of the girth arches emphasize the severity of the system of horizontal articulations. The vaults are fixed on six pillars made of bricks, four of them are arranged in the central part of the temple, two - in the altar. The pillars are mounted on high pedestals that increase their cross section.
There is no information about the painting of the cathedral after the
construction; it is possible that the original order decoration of the
interior did not involve the use of painting. Under Ivan the Terrible,
in 1564-1565, the cathedral was painted by Novgorod and Pskov painters;
fragments of these paintings have been preserved in the loggia above the
western entrance and in the deacon’s chamber serving as Ivan IV’s tomb
(several scenes on the plot of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus;
the upper tier of the deacon’s chamber was already painted in the 17th
century). In 1652-1666, the dilapidated murals were knocked down, and in
their place, according to previously taken drawings, the walls were
painted again - with the preservation of the iconography and
compositional schemes of the murals of the 16th century. 92 masters took
part in the creation of these murals, which have survived to this day,
including the “complained icon painters” Yakov Kazanets, Stepan Rezants,
Sidor Pospeev, Fyodor Zubov, Gury Nikitin and Simon Ushakov.
More
than sixty portraits of Russian princes are located on the pillars and
in the first tier. Among them are Moscow princes Ivan Kalita, Vasily
III, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan III and others, specific princes, as well as
princes of Vladimir-Suzdal and Kievan Rus. The faces of the prophets and
forefathers are depicted in the domes, and scenes from the New Testament
are depicted on the vaults. The figures of Adam and Eve are depicted in
the central drum. The images of the archangels Michael and Gabriel are
placed in the western domes, below - the apostles, saints, martyrs and
scenes of miracles of the archangel Michael. Above the altar are
compositions of the Theotokos cycle, including the Assumption of the
Mother of God. On the south wall in the third tier is placed the
composition "The collapse of the walls of Jericho". Five compositions in
the second tier tell about the boy Vasily, who found gold. In the
western part of the cathedral there is a cycle of compositions on the
theme "Symbols of Faith". Above the entrance to the cathedral, from the
outside, there is a composition depicting scenes of the Last Judgment.
The iconostasis of a frame structure 13 m high with polychrome carved
decor, made by craftsmen headed by I. Nedumov at the Poteshnoy yard in
1680, is installed in the cathedral. It is divided by four horizontal
belts-cornices and vertically divided into three parts - central and
lateral. The iconostasis was damaged during the occupation of Moscow by
the French in 1812; the icons of the two lower tiers were broken out and
used by the soldiers as benches and beds. In 1813, the iconostasis was
restored and supplemented with carvings; they were replaced by carved
columns in the lower tier and in the middle part of the upper tiers; at
the same time the royal gates were made. The iconostasis consists of
four tiers: prophetic, deesis, festive and local. Most of the icons were
painted in 1681 by the artists Dorofey Zolotarev, Fyodor Zubov, Mikhail
Milyutin, the rest of the images date back to the 14th-16th centuries.
The prophetic rank depicts the Old Testament prophets. They hold
unfolded scrolls in their hands, on which texts from their predictions
about the Incarnation are written. In the center of the row is the
Mother of God on the throne with the child Christ on her knees. Above
them is a crucifix with the upcoming Mother of God and John the
Theologian. It is carved from wood and painted by Fyodor Zubov and
Mikhail Milyutin. The center of the deesis row is occupied by the
composition "The Savior in Strength", on the right - the Mother of God
and the Archangel Michael, on the left - John the Baptist and the
Archangel Gabriel. The festive rite represents the events of the New
Testament, which are celebrated by the church. In the local row are the
patronal saints of the great princes and kings. The most ancient icon -
"The Archangel Michael with deeds" - was painted at the end of the 14th
- beginning of the 15th century by order of the widow of Dmitry Donskoy
in memory of her husband.
At the middle pillars of the cathedral,
in two- and three-band iconostases, there are images called royal. The
faces in the lower belts are called the namesake, they depict the patron
saints of the buried kings; in the second tier - darlings, as they were
written at the birth of princes; in the third - coffin
In October 1508, Grand Duke Vasily III "ordered to prepare places and
transfer the relics of the ancestors of his Grand Dukes of Russia" to
the new Archangel Cathedral, indicating the burial rules. It contains 46
tombs and 54 burials. Burials were made in white-stone sarcophagi, which
were lowered under the floor into the ground. Brick tombstones with
slabs decorated with fine carved floral ornaments and epitaphs were
placed over the graves. In the years 1630-1638, all the tombstones that
existed by that time were replaced with the same type of brick, with
carved white stone walls. In 1906, the tombstones were covered with
bronze cases. Ivan Kalita was the first to be buried in the temple; his
tomb is set against the southern wall. Along the western side there are
sarcophagi of close relatives of the Grand Dukes, along the northern
side there are sarcophagi of princes who fell into disfavor and died a
violent death. At the northwestern and southwestern pillars,
representatives of the Tatar nobility who converted to Orthodoxy and
were at the Russian court were buried. Tsars from the Romanov dynasty
are buried at the southeastern and northeastern pillars. Behind the
iconostasis on the south side are the burial places of Ivan IV the
Terrible, his sons Ivan and Fyodor, in the aisle of John the Baptist -
the burial place of commander Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky. The cathedral also
houses the tombs of specific princes from the Moscow princely house -
Yuri Zvenigorodsky, Vasily Kosoy, Yuri Dmitrovsky, Vasily Borovsky,
Andrey Uglitsky, Vladimir the Brave, Andrey Serpukhovsky. At the
southeastern pillar, under the carved white-stone canopy of the first
half of the 17th century, there is a shrine with the relics of Tsarevich
Dmitry Uglichsky; in 1630, the chaser Gavriil Ovdokimov made a silver
shrine with a relief image of the prince, now kept in the Armory. On the
north side there is a shrine with the relics of Prince Mikhail of
Chernigov. She was moved from the church, which stood above the building
of orders and demolished during the construction of the Bazhenov Kremlin
Palace. The last burial in the Archangel Cathedral took place in 1730,
when Emperor Peter II was buried at the northeastern pillar. Opposite
the tombstones are full-length images of almost all the grand dukes
buried here.
Crypt
In 1929, before the demolition of the
Ascension Monastery, thanks to Nikolai Pomerantsev, the remains of
princesses and queens were transferred to the crypt of the basement
chamber of the southern annex of the Archangel Cathedral. In 2008, the
relics of St. Euphrosyne of Moscow were placed in the chapel of the
martyr Ouar.