Cathedral of the Nativity (Suzdal)

Cathedral of the Nativity (Suzdal)

 

 

 

Constructed: 13th- 16th century

 

Description of the Cathedral of the Nativity in Suzdal

Cathedral of the Nativity in Suzdal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated within city Kremlin. It was originally constructed in the 11th century during reign of Vladimir II Monomakh. In 1222 dilapidated wooden building was taken apart and reconstructed in white stone and bricks. Original structure included three domes after Trinity. In the 17th century the church was reconstructed and two more domes were added. Five domes on a Russian Church represented God in the centre and the four Gospels given to Orthodox Christians. Colourful frescoes inside date back to 13th, 15th and 17th centuries. The interior of the church also holds burial tombs of Schuyski family, children of Yury Dolgoruky and many others. It was closed during Soviet Rule, but today it is open as a museum as well as working Orthodox church.

 

History

The construction of the first cathedral dates back to the beginning of the 12th century, by the time of the reign of Vladimir Monomakh. The building was built from plinth by Kyiv craftsmen.

According to George Wagner, already in 1148 the cathedral was dismantled, after which it was rebuilt, but not from plinth, but from rubble stone. Nikolai Voronin and Sergei Zagraevsky denied the existence of the 1148 cathedral.

According to the Laurentian Chronicle, in 1222, by order of Yuri Vsevolodovich, the dilapidated building was dismantled, and in its place a new one was built in three years, which stood until the 15th century. According to the surviving lower parts of this cathedral, it can be judged that it was three-aisled, six-pillared, three-apsed, three-fortified.

Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts Sergei Zagraevsky showed that the construction of this cathedral and other large white-stone churches of the era of Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich was led by the specific prince of Yuriev-Polsky Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich.

In 1445 Kazan Tatars burned down Suzdal. As a result of the fire, the upper part of the cathedral collapsed.

In 1528, Gennady, Bishop of Suzdal, received from the Grand Duke Vasily III, father of Ivan the Terrible, permission to rebuild the cathedral church. As a result, the old walls were dismantled down to the arcade belt with women's masks and replaced with brick ones. Previously, the three-domed cathedral received a five-domed completion and was painted from the inside in the 17th century. Thus, the cathedral has reached our days with great changes. Its lower part belongs to the 13th century, the upper one to the 16th. The wall paintings of the 13th, 15th, and 17th centuries have been preserved in the interior.

In 1233, the cathedral was decorated with fresco paintings by Bishop Kirill from Rostov or Suzdal. Fragments of this painting were discovered in 1938. The most important part of the find is the image of two elders in the upper part of the southern apse.

The cathedral is located in the center of the ring of earthen ramparts, in the bend of the Kamenka River. The temple was on fire several times. The sons of Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, princes from the Shuisky family and others are buried in the cathedral.

The western and southern gates of the Nativity Cathedral in Suzdal are an outstanding monument of Russian applied art of the first third of the 13th century. The gates consist of a wooden base, upholstered with copper sheets, and decorated with images made using the “fire gilding” technique. The western gates contain scenes of the Christological cycle and partly of the Theotokos, while the southern gates are mainly the deeds of angels and in particular the Archangel Michael.