CATHEDRAL OF THE ANNUNCIATION

Description

Essentials about the Cathedral of the Annunciation in brief

The Cathedral of the Annunciation is one of the three Orthodox cathedrals in the Moscow Kremlin of. Like the Cathedral of the Dormition and the Cathedral of the Archangel, it is located on the central Cathedral Square. The Annunciation Cathedral has historical significance mainly in its function as the house church of the Russian tsars for over 100 years.

The history of the Cathedral of the Annunciation

The Cathedral of the Annunciation from the 13th to the 15th century

According to traditions, there was already a wooden church on the site of today’s cathedral at the end of the 13th century. After the wooden church fell victim to one of the frequent fires in Moscow at that time, a stone church was built in its place (probably at the end of the 14th century). The old cathedral existed until the end of the 15th century when it became dilapidated and it was demolished down to the base. The then Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III (the Great) invited for a large-scale reconstruction of the Kremlin, besides Italian architects, among others, builders from the Russian city of Pskov. They began building on the existing base in 1484 and were able to complete the new Cathedral of the Annunciation five years later. Possibly, the Pskov builders of the Annunciation Cathedral were the same masters who had erected the predecessor of the present-day Cathedral of the Dormition, which collapsed in 1472.

Since the Cathedral of the Annunciation was directly adjacent to the then Grand Prince’s chambers in the Kremlin (which stood approximately where today’s Grand Kremlin Palace can be found), the cathedral was chosen by the Grand Prince to be his house church, for which purpose the Pskov masters built a direct staircase crossing from the cathedral into the palace, parts of which have been preserved to this day.

The Cathedral of the Annunciation in the 16th century

Initially, the present Annunciation Cathedral had only three domes. After it was severely damaged in another fire in 1547, the then Grand Duke and the first Russian Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) initiated a restoration of the church. In the process, two additional domes were added on the western side, as well as four side altars, each also crowned with a dome, so that today the cathedral has a total of nine domes.

The Cathedral of the Annunciation in the 17th century

From Ivan’s coronation as tsar, the Cathedral of the Annunciation was now the house church of the monarchs of the Russian tsardom and remained so until the construction of the neighboring Terem Palace together with palace churches in 1636. During this period, members of the tsar’s family prayed in the Annunciation Cathedral, got married and had their children baptized here. But even after losing the status of the tsar’s domestic church and even after the tsar’s court moved to Saint Petersburg, the Cathedral of the Annunciationi remained one of the most important places of worship in Russia. Its presider was also the tsar’s confessor, and the services in the cathedral were attended by the tsar’s family on special occasions.

The Cathedral of the Annunciation in the 18th and 19th centuries

After the 16th century, the Cathedral of the Annunciation was badly damaged several times. Thus, a large part of the church treasures was looted in the course of the Polish-Lithuanian invasion at the beginning of the 17th century, the cathedral was severely damaged in 1737 during a devastating conflagration in the Kremlin, and during the war against Napoleon in 1812 it was used as barracks by the French occupiers and largely looted. From 1815 to 1820 the cathedral was rebuilt and during the 19th century it was rebuilt several times.

The Cathedral of the Annunciation in the 20th century

In the fighting in Moscow during the October Revolution of 1917, the cathedral suffered damage once again and shortly thereafter was closed as a place of worship by the new Bolshevik rulers, as were the other Russian sacred buildings, and nationalized. In the 1950s, the Cathedral of the Annunciation was reopened to the public as a museum along with the other surviving church buildings of the Moscow Kremlin. Today the cathedral is still a museum and is part of the ensemble of the State Museum Reserve “Moscow Kremlin”. Since 1992, the cathedral has once again been the site of a service on the Orthodox feast day of the Annunciation.

The Cathedral of the Annunciation from the outside

The Cathedral of the Annunciation has somewhat smaller dimensions compared to the other two Kremlin cathedrals. Since it was created not by Italian, but by Russian architects, it also differs somewhat in architecture from the Cathedral of the Dormition and the Cathedral of the Archangel. The Annunciation Cathedral is characterized above all by its nine domes, for the gilding of which, according to legend, Tsar Ivan the Terrible had church ornaments from Novgorod melted down.

The Cathedral of the Annunciation from the inside

Upon entering the Cathedral of the Annunciation, visitors notice one of the peculiarities of the church’s construction. Relatively high flight of stairs leads to the entrances. The background is that the cathedral was built on the raised plinth of its predecessor building. The pedestal was used by the tsar’s court in the 15th and 16th centuries, among other things, to store money and other treasures.

The interior of the church, in addition to the actual prayer room, consists of several galleries surrounding it, which were created during the addition of side altars in the 16th century. Throughout the interior of the cathedral, parts of the wall paintings from 1508 have been preserved to this day. They can be seen in the side galleries as well as in the main hall and, in addition to a variety of biblical motifs, include images of heroic Russian princes and grand princes. However, most of the wall paintings in the Annunciation Cathedral today are later reproductions, as many of the original frescoes were destroyed in fires in the 16th and 17th centuries.

In the main or chancel of the cathedral, whose vault is supported by four rectangular (and also richly painted) pillars, the main attraction is the five-aisle bronze iconostasis with icons from around 1405, which were originally housed in the previous building. Also striking in the sanctuary is the floor, consisting of slabs of agate-like yellow-red jasper, possibly originally from Constantinople. Behind the altar is a large silver reliquary, made in 1894, containing the remains of some 50 saints. The relics were brought here from various places in the Christian Orient beginning in the 15th century and continuing into the 20th century.