Znamensky Cathedral is an Orthodox church in Kitay-gorod in Moscow,
the former cathedral of the Znamensky Monastery. It belongs to the
Iversky deanery of the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.
It was built in 1679-1684 by architects F. Grigoriev and G. Anisimov
in the old Russian traditions. In Soviet times, the temple was closed
and used for other purposes. In 1963-1972, a serious restoration was
carried out, which largely returned the Znamensky Cathedral to its
original appearance. In 1992, it was transferred to the Church and is
the main temple of the Patriarchal compound in Zaryadye.
The Znamensky Monastery was founded in 1631 on the site of the
Romanov estate. In 1668, there was a fire in which the monastery
churches burned down. The monks turned to the king for help.
Boyar Ivan Mikhailovich Miloslavsky paid for the construction of the new
cathedral, and the tsar allocated money to cover it. The new cathedral
began to be built in 1679 on the site of the church of Athanasius of
Athos. It was not badly damaged during the fire, but in 1679 it was
dismantled to build a new monastery cathedral.
In 1683,
Miloslavsky died before completing the construction of the cathedral,
and by decree of the tsar, Vladimir Odoevsky took over the financing.
The construction was completed in 1684, but the cathedral looked
unfinished. The walls were left unpainted, the interiors had no murals.
It was consecrated in 1684 by Patriarch Joachim.
The upper
cold temple was consecrated in honor of the icon "The Sign". The lower
warm temple was originally consecrated in the name of Athanasius of
Athos (later the lower temple was consecrated anew in the name of
Sergius of Radonezh, and its side chapel in honor of Nicholas the
Wonderworker).
At the end of the XVIII century, a new period of
prosperity of the monastery begins. The cathedral was painted, its walls
were decorated with stucco.
During the Patriotic War of 1812,
Napoleonic soldiers looted the monastery. However, the cathedral
building was not damaged at that time. During the occupation, it was
even allowed to hold divine services in the lower temple.
By the
300th anniversary of the Romanov house, the cathedral was restored. In
1910, a side chapel was built in the upper church in the name of St.
Michael Malein. After 1923, the monastery was closed. Its buildings and
the cathedral were adapted for housing. By the early 1960s, the
courtyard building and stables were demolished, and the remaining
buildings were in disrepair. But in connection with the construction of
the Rossiya Hotel in Zaryadye in 1963-1972, work was carried out on the
restoration of the cathedral. Then the cathedral building was
transferred to the Propaganda House of the All-Russian Society for the
Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments. There are lecture and
concert halls. In the 1980s, another restoration was carried out.
Since 1992, divine services have been resumed in the Cathedral of
the Sign. In 2015, a roof was built over the stairs to the upper church.
It is planned to recreate the old monastery bell tower, which stood on
the southwestern side of the cathedral and was dismantled in 1782 due to
dilapidation. In 2016, the restoration of the cathedral is underway, it
was painted red with white details.
The monastery Cathedral was built by architects Fyodor Grigoriev and
Grigory Anisimov in a retrospective style for that time, when preference
was given to styles that contain details from the architecture of
Western Europe (Moscow Baroque). The five-domed temple was built in the
old Russian traditions in the likeness of the Assumption Cathedral and
has two tiers. Since its construction, the cathedral has been the
largest building in Zaryadye and in many ways retains its dominant
position even now (at the end of the XIX century, the cathedral was
overshadowed by commercial and apartment buildings built on the
territory of the monastery, which were demolished in the 1930s, and in
the 1960s the Rossiya Hotel closed the view from the embankment, but in
the 2000s, it was demolished).
The cathedral externally has the
shape of a ship, in the front (eastern) part of which there are upper
and lower altars, and in the rear (western) there is a porch with a
staircase. In the center there is an elevated square volume, ending in a
vault and five chapters, four of which are located at the corners, and
the fifth in the center.
At the end of the XVIII century, the
interior of the upper church was decorated in a new way. Perspective
decreasing caissons with molded rosettes appeared on the vault, walls
with fluted pilasters decorated with molded oval cartouches with
paintings.
A tent-roofed bell tower, demolished in 1782, was
added to the main volume of the cathedral from the southwest. Now it is
planned to restore it within the framework of the Zaryadye Park project.
A staircase leads to the upper church from the northwest. The
staircase was originally in the same place as it is now (restored during
the 1963-1972 restoration). After the demolition of the bell tower, this
staircase was dismantled and a new one was built in the center of the
western facade. There was also a staircase leading to the porch from the
north side — in 1751 it was replaced by a covered passage on pillars
from the abbot's chambers, and in 1785 this passage was dismantled.
In 2015, the stairs to the upper church were covered. The
restoration took place during 2016. The stone pillars are decorated in
the cathedral style, but the covering is made of modern materials. This
extension was painted white, and now it, like the whole cathedral, is
red with white details.